Only A Madman
by Ionuneos
Summary: Sequel to ITAG. There's never much rest for Team Missile. No longer needing to stay there, the teammates leave Sinnoh with intentions of taking down another group of crazies. Instead, they come to realize just how simple that Galactic battle had been...
1. After the Aftermath

"_This is taking far too long_."

It was half an hour after that statement was stated. Finally, Dusk and Dawn had reached their home. Not a single noun or verb was spoken the entire trip back; not even the Pokémon made a peep. Adversely, multiple words were constantly running through Dusk's head, leaving him scared to think about how many were running through Dawn's. He wasn't sure why, but Dawn had backed away from him ever since they had left Rowan's lab. She independently walked next to him, head lowered, crying without control.

It was dark out by this time. Dusk didn't feel like lifting his wrist up to see the exact time, but it had to be late. Nothing but stars, street lamps, and the moon illuminated anything.

Breathing in deeply to calm himself, he lifted his knuckle up and knocked on his familiar door. Knowing his mother would soon answer, he quickly leaned over to give Dawn one last peck for now. She nodded; whether that was an agreement to be courageous or simply her head shaking from crying so much, he didn't know for sure.

The door suddenly swung open. "I have enough shampoo, tha-" The woman at the door paused for a minute. "...Umbreon? Dawn? What are you doing-Is everything okay?"

Umbreon's eyes shifted into a different direction. "Not...exactly. Mind if we stay here for the night?"

"Of course you can." Johanne stepped backwards, leaving the two room to enter the house. "What really is the matter? What happ-"

Dawn suddenly felt as though she lost control of her own will. With no warning to anyone, she turned around and bolted the way they had come from. Seconds later, she was off the property and dashing down the paved road.

The mother blinked out of surprise. "...end."

"Ugh..." Dusk growled under his breath. Mimicking his partner's decision to spontaneously leave without an explanation, he turned around and chased after her.

There were two others in the group who weren't as enthusiastic.

"...Pikachu, Pika?" he yawned.

"Chic..."

Seemingly quite bored, the two Pokémon limped into Dusk's home for the first time, following a winded Johanne into the living room.

-**OAM**-

No slower than his legs would let him, Dusk chased after the remaining Sinnoh Team Missile member. Acquiring victory over her in Coronet must have been a fluke, because Dawn was back to her speedy self. Even though he didn't have a chance of catching up to her, he confirmed that she never fell out of his visual range. He had called her by name three times, only to be ignored every one of them. It was pointless to him to continue wasting energy on shouting after her, which left the wind rushing past his ears to be the only sound he could hear.

It took twenty minutes of constant jogging until Dawn slowed down. Dusk wanted to celebrate getting the opportunity to stop running, but knew there was something more important to deal with. "..._Why are we back in Sandgem?_"

Dawn had backtracked to the very town they were just in. Looking to his left, he noticed the laboratory that they had just been inside of. However, the girl he was tracking was silently walking in the opposite direction of that. A panting Dusk followed her.

Suddenly, she stopped. Dusk sprinted the rest of the way to see what she was doing.

When he arrived, he noticed she was standing in front of a very large tree that he hadn't paid attention to before. Her hand was gently placed on its trunk. "...Dawn?"

She instantly jumped. Upon seeing who it was after she turned around, Dawn gave a huge breath of relief. "Oh, I...didn't know you followed me."

"_Uh, selective hearing much?_"As angry as he was at that, Dusk didn't let his thoughts physically show. The boy got closer to Dawn, who had already turned back to the tree. "You know, if you wanted to stay in Sandgem for a minute longer, you could have told me that back when we were still here..."

"I'm...sorry, Umbreon." Dawn's head turned to the entirely-shadowed branches above. "I just...don't understand anything anymore. I mean, honestly...Who am I? What if Rowan didn't even tell us everything? What's next? I am a girl, aren't I?"

Dusk couldn't help a smirk. "Have you checked lately?"

Dawn's head sunk. She lightly pounded on the bark of the tree with her numb hand. "I just...don't get it. Why was I lied to my entire life? Getting told that Rowan was my father would have been a lot easier to accept ten years ago than it is right now. Getting told that Ashley was a half-sister would have been nice to know before her death. When did Mama plan on telling me all this? I mean...did she?"

Dusk took advantage of Dawn's vulnerability and squeezed her tightly around her waist from the back. He set his head gently across her shoulder blade. "I don't know."

The Sinnohian smirked a little. She began rubbing her hand on a couple of Dusk's fingers. "Me neither...That's what you're supposed to be here for."

He fidgeted around a bit before responding. "...I can't lie to you. I have no idea what I'm supposed to say. Honestly, the only thing I care about is that you're the same girl you always have been. Dawn, I hate to put it to you like this, but Rowan's always been your father. Ashley's always been a half-sister. Just...now you know it."

"I know that, Umbreon!" she choked out. "But...why? That's all I want to know! Why was everything kept from me?"

Dusk kissed her softly on her neck. "I don't know..."

"You say that I'm the same girl I always have been, but you know something, Umbreon? Right now...I don't feel that way. I don't feel like I'm me. In one night, I'm barely related to my sister. Berlitz and I have had a lot of good times together...but our bond isn't what it should be. The father that I've wished so long to meet has been bossing me around for two weeks, and I never knew it."

This time, he didn't dare to say anything. Still, another kiss was planted softly in the same spot as the last one.

"Umbreon..." Dawn shuffled her feet on the grass a little. Slowly, she turned her head upwards, once more, observing the black leaves. "What do you think it'd be like..." She paused for a moment. There was no way around the oddity of her next words, but it was too late to not say them. "...to meet your father?"

His body instantly stopped any function besides breathing. He contemplated the answer carefully, knowing that it was a dangerous question. "...It's too hard to say. It would all depend on who he was." Silence ruled the air. Dusk found that ideal enough to test his observational abilities. "Let me ask you a question. Are you mad at me?"

"A little," she instantly replied. "This hasn't exactly been your greatest inspirational speech for me. I'm really, really confused right now, and by the way you dodged that question, it's beginning to get harder to convince myself that you actually care." She closed her eyes when a wind blew through, swaying her hair off in one direction. "Don't take that personally. I'm mad at everything right now."

He couldn't come up with a response that he felt safe giving. He decided not saying anything at all was a better alternative.

She turned around. This broke his arms off of her, so he backed away a few steps to retain comfortable talking distance. "I want to live my life, Umbreon. But...why do I have to do that in curiosity? Why will I always have to wonder why Mama, Rowan, and who knows, maybe even Ashley kept everything from me? Nobody in this entire world knows any of those things anymore. I take that back. Rowan does, but he'll never tell me. Umbreon, right now, that's...all I want. It'll take awhile, but I will eventually come to terms that Rowan's my father. But even when that happens, it won't help answering...why. Why my life is a bunch of question marks. And why I never knew that my life was a bunch of question marks until tonight."

"...Why do people die?" Dusk folded his arms. "Why do humans, who, though different, are all the same, hurt each other? Why is the sky blue? Dawn, there's a lot of questions out there that nobody will ever be able to answer, and having one or two personal ones isn't something to be so surprised at. Even if I do meet my father. Why did it take so long? Why wasn't he here for the rest of my life?"

Dawn gave him her back once more and folded her arms. Her head bowed slightly, though not much.

Dusk paused for a minute. "Is that a good sign, or bad?"

"Good, if you keep going," she mumbled out in reply.

"We can't expect to know everything," he went on, following her advice. "Forgive me for throwing salt in the wound, but that's sort of obvious. We'll always have questions that will go unanswered. Maybe you won't know why you were lied to your entire life. But, when you get down to it, there's much weirder things out there. Like how Brendan and May possibly ended up together. Or...Why your hair is blue."

As incomplete as she felt right now, Dawn couldn't stop herself from chuckling.

"Dawn, I...understand if you're feeling confused. You're handling this better than I would if our shoes were reversed, I can tell you that much. Still, with that said, this is just another one of those things in life. I don't mean to blow it off as nothing, but you will recover from this. And I don't need to tell you that I'm going to help you. Right now, c'mon...let's just get home for awhile. We could both use some sleep on a comfortable bed for once, and a few days of rest won't hurt anything, either."

The nanosecond he put a hand on Dawn's shoulder, she spoke up. "Umbreon? This tree...was everything to me. Do you remember how I kept asking if I could sleep outside?"

"I couldn't forget if I wanted to."

She turned around to give him a weak smile. "It's because it wouldn't be the first time. My sister, Berlitz, and I slept in a tent, under this very tree, all the time. And I mean that...literally. Every day but maybe ten days a year, we would sleep out here. It didn't matter how cold it was."

"Why's that?" he wondered somewhat genuinely, though he couldn't deny that another reason was to simply keep the subject moving.

"...I don't know. We just loved it. Everything was so perfect out here. Falling asleep to the Hoothoot, and rising to the Starly was just...motivating, you know?" She turned her head over her shoulder to glance at the tree. Her smile widened, but stayed dangerously disheartened. "But everything changes, doesn't it." That didn't sound like much of a question. As she went on, she talked less to Umbreon and more to herself. "Back then, I used to live for my family...Now I have friends instead..." Her head dropped, even though she still kept it over her shoulder for some reason. A moment later, she finally turned her head back to Dusk. "Anyway…Let's just get home. Maybe all I need right now is something to take my mind off this."

Dusk nodded. He cordially placed an arm around Dawn's neck and began leading her back to the same path they always used to enter and exit the town. Soon before getting back on Route 201, Dawn turned her head over her shoulder and smiled at the tree that now belonged to someone else. She didn't really care about a detail like that. Finally, she turned her head back to the path for a second, before finally laying it on Dusk's shoulder. She silently listened as Dusk continued rambling on with his guesses about why Dawn's hair was blue. Though none were correct, she found some theories worth giggling at.

-**OAM**-

Once again, it took another half hour to reach Dusk's home. This time, however, the trip seemed to go much faster, with all thanks due to Dawn not crying. Having a feeling it was unlocked, Dusk grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed in. The door creaked open to reveal a barely-lit house. "Watch your step."

Having been here only once before, Dawn was thankful for the warning. She watched the ground to make sure she climbed the single stair to enter into the home successfully. Now inside, she was instantly washed over with an atmosphere that she loved. No doubt she felt much more welcome than last time she was here, given the changes her and Dusk have had between then and now. Still, the fact that they could hardly see anything was slightly off-putting. Dawn quite literally followed behind Dusk blindly as he made his way into the living room.

There wasn't a light on in the entire room, spare the TV. Looking onward at the screen was a perplexed Johanne. A certain Pikachu, Torchic, and Skitty were on the couch next to her, all fast asleep.

After a quick moment, however, the adult managed to turn away from the TV set. "Oh, hello...again. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. For now. If you don't mind being spared the story for a night, where do we stash Dawn? We're both pretty tired, so..."

Almost without detection, Johanne nodded her head. "Her room is upstairs, first door on your right. Good night."

"Night." Dusk began taking off.

Dawn, however, bowed low until she was at a ninety degree angle. "Once more, ma'am, thank you for going through all of this trouble for me."

Johanne forced a smile. "Don't think about it. Now go get some sleep, dear."

Dawn silently complied. Reaching over the back of the couch as she passed by it, she picked Ionu and Wizard up into her arms. With them in tow, she dashed for the same staircase she had just seen Umbreon rush to.

Johanne frowned. "..._Were those two just holding hands?_"

Unfortunately for her, the Pokémon-toting girl had lost sight of her friend. Hoping he wouldn't mind much, she figured that Wizard could just sleep with her tonight. After quite a struggle to get the door open while both arms remained occupied, she finally got inside. She brought her well-toned leg up and literally kicked the light switch on.

Then her mouth dropped.

Pink curtains. Pink carpet. Pink paint. Pink bed sheets. Everything that could realistically be pink was. In the middle of her ceiling was a fan that was readily equipped with a lighting fixture. Two windows were on either wall of the corner that her queen-sized bed was shoved up against. Pushed against the wall to her right was a dresser, and on the opposite side of that, a full-length mirror.

"_I'm really not this girly__...__am I?_"

Whether it was because he sensed his unusual surroundings or not, Wizard slowly opened his eyes. He blinked them twice, then rapidly looked around.

Dawn chuckled a bit. "Don't ask me, Wizard."

She finally began setting foot into the overly-feminine room. When she reached her bed, she kicked off her pink boots, which instantly blended in with the rest of the room. After letting out an audible groan of pleasure just because of that, she twirled on her heels and collapsed backwards to her bed. She instantly deemed the mattress an immeasurable number of times better than any she slept on at the Pokémon Centers.

After a moment of resting, Dawn set Ionu near the pillows, which were at the head of the bed. With her other arm free, she got a better hold of Wizard and lifted him up into the air. She giggled when she found him cringing. "Given your last Trainer, you probably aren't into pink very much, are you?"

"Pika..." he muttered, his tongue falling out a bit as he said it.

"Hey, Wizard...do you think I could talk to you for a minute?"

-**OAM**-

One room over, Dusk was already feeling more than welcomed home.

"_In the nightlight, do you see what you dream? All your troubles, are they all what they seem?"_ Increasing the volume on his headphones, Dusk continued prancing around his room in socks, whispering the lyrics to himself, all the while trying to recover the damage that his mother had done to his room while he was gone.

His room was painted a light shade of blue. Multiple posters of just about everything were scattered all along his walls, hiding most of that paint. Besides that, surrounding most of his room was nearly everything imaginable. A stand with a small TV on it, with his game console fittingly next to it. A bed, a dresser, a portable cooler, a stereo, and other miscellaneous things were scattered all over the place in a seemingly unsalvageable manner. Dusk naturally felt that he knew where everything was, leaving him slightly aggravated that his mother insisted on cleaning his room.

"_'Cause every night, I will save your life! And every night, I will_-'" The whispered words came to an abrupt end when he looked in his second dresser drawer. Slowly, he pulled a red string out. After it was finally free from the entanglement of all the other junk he had stored in there, a small plastic heart was found at the end of it. On the heart were the words "Best Friend." However, the heart could be broken in half; for this reason, there was actually two strings tied to it, one on each side. It was used to signify friendship by giving one half to anybody that deserved it. "_I...forgot about this..._"

-**OAM**-

Dawn repositioned herself. Her head was now laying comfortably on the pillow, on its side. Ionu was at her back, still out cold, while she had set Wizard in front of her. He was staring back at her with a small smile on his face; this inwardly made Dawn melt, being exposed to so much cuteness. She shook that off and got to the point. "Wizard, I was hoping I could confide in you...okay?"

He simply blinked as a response. Understanding the subject was serious, he decided to drop the smile.

She began stroking the Pokémon that was half hers on its side. "There's just some things that I...don't feel like I can tell your Trainer, you know? But I know that I can trust you. You won't tell Umbreon, will you?"

"Chu."

Dawn sighed. "I guess...The truth is, I sorta snapped at your Trainer tonight. The reason I did it is because I'm...scared."

"Pika."

"Well...You saw what happened at Rowan's. And now I'm honestly scared. It's not...I..." Dawn finally stopped talking until she could formulate a sentence. "I just want to know who I am. With an announcement like Ashley being a half-sister, I just feel...alone, you know? I could always keep Ashley and Mama close to my heart, but now...why? Why should I, after they lied to me?"

"Chaa, pika pika pi."

It was here that Dawn began wondering why she had picked Wizard for this exercise. He could listen, but Dawn didn't have a clue what he was saying. "It's not that I don't want to remember them for my life. But...I suppose you don't know why they kept everything from me, huh?"

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Pika. Pika pi."

Her blood began pumping faster. She had no idea what the mouse had said, of course, but the fact that he nodded was enough to make her curious. "Should I...just forget about this?"

"Pika."

Dawn rolled onto her back. As she looked at the plain white ceiling above, she frowned. "...But how? It's easier to say that I'll forget that they lied to me for fourteen years than it is to do it."

"Chu, ka Pika pi," he chuckled to himself.

Dawn turned her head to him. "Was that a crack about amnesia?"

Wizard waved her off, rolling to his other side so Dawn would get his back. It hid the smirk on his face. He closed his eyes and snuggled into the mattress a bit. "Pikachu. Pika pi, ka Pikachu."

The confused girl sighed. "_That was probably something about talking to Umbreon_," she assumed. She decided to discontinue the conversation, which turned out as a good thing. Wizard fell asleep shortly after. Still watching the ceiling carefully, Dawn's mind was racing the entire night, until she finally lost consciousness as well.

-**OAM**-

Morning rose. Assumed by the fact that her room remained completely dark, Dawn just wasn't entirely aware of just how early in the morning it was yet.

She instantly sat up in her bed as a loud boom simultaneously crashed outside. It had been an unkept secret from her friends that she was a somewhat light sleeper. It had sometimes backfired on her, this particular time being a prime example.

She continued listening in silence, forcing herself to keep her breathing under control. Finally, she deduced where it was coming from. The rain constantly beating all around her room was a decent indication of it. Soon after, another rumble attacked, followed shortly by a beam of pure lightning.

Dawn gulped. Quietly, yet swiftly getting out of the bed, she soundlessly raced over to the door and opened it just enough to squeeze by. Despite being sensitive to the most subtle of sounds, Wizard stayed unconscious as she made her escape.

After shutting the door behind her, she opened the next one she came across.

"Umbreon? You're...awake?"

The young Trainer was laying on his bed. Though the screen was turned away from her, Dawn saw that he was enraptured by something on his laptop. "Yeah..." He clicked the mouse a few times. "I was reading this horrible fan fiction about a girl with, like, seventeen phobias, but then I found this article about asexuality. Who knew that cartoon characters...Well, anyway, what are you doing up?"

The girl cringed as another, even louder crash of thunder shook the house. "Umb...Umbreon? Can I...sleep with you tonight?" she asked, knowingly innocently.

His eyes shifted from the laptop's screen to Dawn. "You're still worked up over what happened earlier?"

She sniffled once, then shook her head. "No, I just...don't really like storms very much..."

Dusk grinned and turned back to the computer. "Says the person who won a Pikachu. Sure, if you want to." His eyes jumped all around the screen as he began crossing out all of his windows. After finally hitting the power-down button, he reached over and set the laptop on the dresser. He rolled to the opposite edge of the bed to give Dawn plenty of room. "Hit the light," he added with a yawn.

Slightly intimidated by touching too many things in a room that wasn't hers, she lifted her arm up and turned off the lights in the room. After shutting the door, she nervously sat on the bed. "Umbreon..." She laid down on her side, keeping her back to Dusk. "Thank you."

"...You can come a little closer, if you want to."

Being on the very edge of the bed disturbed Dawn. That didn't mean she had any plans of letting him know that. "No, it's fine."

Dusk began rubbing Dawn's side. She remembered doing nearly the same thing to Wizard just hours ago. "You never told me you were afraid of thunderstorms..."

Dawn laughed. "At least I don't have seventeen phobias."

Feeling much comfort from being with her boyfriend, Dawn managed to go back to sleep with relative ease. It wasn't long after she went out that Dusk followed her to dream land too.

-**OAM**-

The next time Dawn woke up, she was a bit more pleased with the result. The overcast was still there, and the rain was still heavy, but the storm itself seemed to have passed. She sat up and looked around the room for a clock. According to a digital clock on a shelf above Umbreon's bed, the time seemed to be 6:30. Satisfied with enough sleep, she got out of the bed, leaving the drooling Dusk to his slumber.

She made it down the steps and blindly into the kitchen. Johanne was at the table in the most stereotypical position that Dawn could have expected: drinking coffee, reading the paper. "Good morning, Dawn," she finally said. "Would you like anything?"

"A glass of orange juice would be great, thank you."

As Johanne got up to get the necessary supplies, Dawn walked further into the room and took a seat on the chair negative of that which the parent was sitting in. After thanking the woman once more, Dawn instantly removed a fourth of the drink from the cup that was given to her.

Johanne sat back down and picked the paper back up. "I didn't figure you were an early riser."

Dawn forced out a nervous laugh. "Well, it depends, I guess..."

"So..." She lifted the paper up to block her view from Dawn. She flipped a page in it. "You and Umbreon have become pretty good friends."

A suspicion alarm was raised inside of Dawn. "...Yeah. Your son is an awesome friend, Mrs..."

"Corsica," she replied, still without being bothered to move the paper away so Dawn could see her expression.

"_Umbreon...Corsica? Honestly?_"Dawn blinked it off.

Johanne flipped another page. Dawn couldn't help but wonder if she had actually managed to read through all of the last one. "...Have you two kissed yet?"

The alarm was raised three levels. In reaction, the Sinnoh Trainer's face contorted into perceivable anger. "What? Well...Yeah, we have. May I ask why you wonder that?"

"I see." There was a pause. And another page flip. "I'm just surprised. Umbreon's been a loner his entire life. Of course I was expecting him to make friends on his journey, but I didn't know he'd move that fast."

That seemed to be a reasonable response as far as Dawn was concerned. She dropped the unsubtle hints of anger before speaking again. "Well, in all honesty, it didn't show. He made a lot of fast friends over the past week."

Johanne nodded her head and moved the paper ever-so slightly so Dawn could see the movement. "That's good. I'm glad he's meeting so many people."

"_Like Roark, and Giovanni, and-_"

"Dawn, I was just...wondering something, though. Have you...ever been in a relationship before?" Johanne allowed the paper to fall down a bit. Dawn could instantly see that her look of confusion was doing a horrible job masking a look of anger.

The bluenette took a simple sip of her drink before responding. "I guess I can't say that I have." Dawn looked back at the glass and cursed. Johanne had given her a large drink, which wasn't ideal when all the girl wanted to do right now was leave. "I say this with absolutely no disrespect intended, ma'am, but...Isn't this getting a little personal?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dawn," Johanne quickly covered her face up with the paper again. Dawn was beginning to get sick of that happening. "I didn't mean to hurt you. We can talk about something else."

The next subject was interesting. For at least forty-five seconds, they talked about absolutely nothing. Finally, once more, the forty-something-year-old broke the silence.

"So...I saw you in Umbreon's room earlier this morning."

Dawn rolled her eyes. _"So much for talking about something else_," she thought. "Yes, Mrs. Corsica, but trust me, we were not doing anything. I hate thunderstorms, so I just asked if Umbreon would help me get back to sleep. We've been helping each other out since the day we started off together, and last night was no different."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dawn!" the older woman repeated, though her tone made it sound like it had an utterly different meaning. "I didn't mean to accuse you or anything. I was just afraid you didn't like your new room, that's all."

"Don't worry, ma'am, I love the room!" Dawn exclaimed, lowering her guard a bit. "Honestly, though, you didn't have to go through so much trouble for me."

Johanne lowered the paper once more and smirked at Dawn. "Oh, you stop that." Conveniently, the paper rose once again. "Umbreon's girlfriend deserves only the finest, after all."

Though maybe it only happened in her head, Dawn could have sworn her blood boiled. "Ma'am, and again, I say this with all due respect, is there a _problem_ with me and Umbreon being together?"

"Hm? Of course there isn't! It's wonderful that Umbreon's wanting to try a relationship."

Silence.

"...Just remember not to break his heart."

Dawn's anger turned into confusion.

For the first time in at least three minutes, Johanne flipped to the next page. Dawn grinned when she realized there was only one more page to go on the paper. Then the woman couldn't hide behind anything anymore. "Like I said, he hasn't been in a relationship before, and it'd be horrible for him if something happened between you two so early on. He takes loss very hard."

Dawn genuinely smiled a bit. "...I assure you, ma'am, I have no plans of leaving Umbreon anytime soon."

Something was mumbled under Johanne's breath. Dawn couldn't hear it, but was determined to find out what it was. "I'm sorry, did you say something, ma'am?"

"Oh, no, of course not. I just wanted to mention that Umbreon generally doesn't like anything that isn't useful anymore. He's always throwing things away."

Dawn closed her eyes and decided to forget about it. Why such a random detail was needed to be brought up, she honestly didn't know, or care, either. She took another drink of orange juice. "Well, that's good."

"Hm?" Johanne shot back almost before Dawn finished her sentence.

"...Huh? Oh, well, I guess, philosophically, that means that Umbreon's open to change. Which is almost ironic, if he takes loss as hard as you say."

"Mm-hm...Umbreon generally isn't that philosophical, though."

Dawn chuckled, hoping to keep the topic light-hearted. "I noticed. That's why I usually keep those thoughts to myself."

"Oh? You're afraid to be yourself around my son?"

"_What is this?_"she shouted at herself. "Of course I'm not, Mrs. Corsica. I just don't want to bore him with things that I like and he doesn't, so we just talk about things that we have in common instead."

"I see your arm is a little stiff, there..."

Dawn blinked. That came from nowhere. "Uh...Yeah. I had a pretty severe accident on Mount Coronet, and ended up with a numb arm."

"Accident-prone?"

"Um..." Once again, Dawn laughed to herself. "Well, a bit, I guess."

"...My son hates seeing people hurt."

Dawn frowned. And possibly growled a bit, too. "I understand that, ma'am. Still, he's been with me through every single accident, and that's one of the reasons I love him."

"Love?"

Dawn hurriedly finished the last of her drink. "You know something, ma'am? Thank you for the drink and conversation, but I think I'm going to explore around Twinleaf for awhile. I'll try to be back by lunch, okay?"

"Have a good time, dear. And don't hurt yourself!"

The girl pushed her chair back, gently set the empty glass in the sink, then left for her room to go equip her boots and handbag.

Johanne scoffed. "_Love. Umbreon wouldn't know what love is if it hit him in the head with a lead pipe_." She took a sip of her coffee. "_And I certainly don't need him hanging out with some girl that's more trouble than she worth_." Flipping over the last page to see there was nothing of interest on it, Johanne decided to get up and start her morning chores.

-**OAM**-

Dawn didn't waste any time. Without even waking Ionu or Wizard up, she got her stuff and bolted out of the house, avoiding Johanne like the plague. Once outside, and a few steps away from the home, she sighed. "_Well, there's one good thing about her. If Umbreon and I get married, she'd be the perfect mother-in-law_." After an apparently necessary eye-roll, Dawn picked a random direction and started walking toward it.

Her first stop was pleasant enough. Since she actually hadn't gotten anything to eat back there, she made a stop at a breakfast house to get some food in her. With that out of the way, she decided to make her way to the mall to kill some time.

She wouldn't have needed to, if it wasn't for Johanne. As much as she wanted to hang around with Dusk, the two women needed a break from each other. The mall was a convenient means of that. By the time she walked herself to the oversized building, her Pokétch told her it was 08:50.

It wasn't long after she got inside that a set of black clothes that caught her eye. Looking through the window, she could see that they were basic jean shorts, along with a sleeveless top. It wasn't amazing to her, but still cute enough to deserve an inspection.

She happily raced around the corner to reach the store's entrance. Before she entered, she took notice of the shop's name. "_Valiant Shed, huh?_"

The atmosphere was nothing that she wasn't used to. Soft music played from ceiling-mounted speakers. The floor was entirely polished wood, though the majority was covered up with racks of clothes. Much like the wearable material itself, gender-specific changing rooms were on opposite sides of the store from each other.

It was apparently too early for many costumers; she saw only two other girls, and both were employees based on their name tags. She didn't pay mind to that and walked over to the reason she came in here originally.

She grabbed both, the short jeans and matching top, and wasted no time making her way into the changing room.

It took some time to transfer between clothes in the confined space that she had, but she was nearly finished with it. As she was working her numb hand through its corresponding hole in the shirt, loud and swift footsteps could be heard barreling into the Valiant Shed. She was about to shrug it off when she heard a man's burly voice somewhere near the front counter.

"Give me the money! Now!"

Dawn's mind froze. As the five words that weren't even spoken to her rattled through her head time and time again, she realized that if she stayed quiet, the guy would never know she was there.

However, then she looked at her handbag.

"That's it. Put it in the bag. All of it. I better be countin' pennies when I get home! Heh heh heh..."

Being so enamored by the paper that the two employees were fearfully shoving into a green bag, the thief failed to see a lion covered in blue fur dart out from one of the female's changing rooms. With one highly territorial cry of "Luxio!" the beast leapt for the man and tackled him on his side.

He was shoved straight to the ground. The landing was painful, but so were the claws that dug into him afterwards.

Dawn, fully decked out in the dark-colored clothes, shoved the curtain blocking her sight to the side. Sunnite took a quick glance back to ensure that her Trainer was nearby, but quickly returned her focus to the criminal that she was still standing on top of.

"Who invited you?" the thief shouted, physically shoving Sunnite off of him.

Now that he was getting back to his feet, Dawn was able to look the guy up and down. His hair was completely covered by a blue bandana; his shirt was blue and white, striped, and he had casual jeans thrown on his legs. No attempt had been made to cover up his face.

"You're asking _me_ that?" Dawn angrily questioned. "Sunnite, Bite him!"

The Electric-type Pokémon did as she was told and chomped straight down on his pant leg. Her teeth sliced straight through the material and into his leg.

"OW! You little...If you want a battle, you found the perfect guy! Let's rumble-"

"Freeze!" a different female voice boomed.

Both contestants jerked their heads towards the front entrance. There stood a girl only a couple ages older than Dawn. Her torso was untouchable with help from a bullet-proof vest, while Dawn knew that the long pants she wore could possibly be hiding more armor. Below her silver hair that was pulled back into a ponytail was the detail that the heroine found oddest: orange eyes. At the teenager's feet was a purple-colored starfish.

"...And I mean that whichever way you want to take it. Starmie knows Ice Beam, so."

The criminal forgot about Sunnite as he shakily took a step backwards. "Wha-What are _you_ doing here?"

"Don't give me that," she snapped. "You're coming with me."

"Augh..." The thief reluctantly lifted his hands into the air. The only positive outcome of that in his eyes was Sunnite finally dropping her grip.

The young woman walked up, reaching behind her back to grab a pair of handcuffs. She talked as she pulled the man's arms back down one at a time. "The alternative was getting crushed by a couple of girls. I would have been fine either way."

Though he remained silent, Dawn didn't.

"Who...are you?"

"The name's Key," she answered, locking the final handcuff. After that, she pointed toward her own eyes. "And before you ask, they're contacts. I've been told I look more threatening with orange eyes."

Dawn gave a weak smile in reply. She appreciated Key's friendliness, but somehow didn't feel completely comfortable letting her take off with an attempted robber. "I'm Dawn..."

Key nodded. "The pleasure's mine. I can't thank you enough for standing up against this guy. You saved me there."

"I...did?"

"I'd love to explain, but I can't stick around long. Maybe I'll be saving your tail one of these days!" Wasting no time in leading him away from the store, Key winked as she passed by Dawn. "Good meeting you. We'll see each other around."

"Y-yeah," Dawn said. It was about all she could force out before Key left, shoving the thief in front of her.

She stayed watching the door-less entrance, even after the two had disappeared from view. When she sighed, her eyes shifted to Sunnite instead. The lion looked back at her, but only until she felt the need to lick one of her front paws. It got a smile out of Dawn, but that morphed to surprise when somebody else spoke to her. This voice came from one of employees.

"Um...We're not, like...managers...or anything, but, uh...You did just save the store. So if there's, um, anything you want, uh..."

Her sentence trailed off, leaving Dawn confused for a moment. Once it clicked, she completely forgot about Key in favor of the offer. "Oh! Can I have these?" she asked, her face lit up brightly with a smile.

-**OAM**-

It was a few minutes before noon. Despite her promise to Johanne, Dawn was still in the shopping mall, specifically in the food court. With legs hurting from walking around so much, she limped toward a table with a tray of unhealthy, but devilishly tempting food in hand. Her mind was still dazed by the earlier event, but she was still happy that she walked out of it with a free new outfit. Sitting down, she set the bag that contained her old clothes on her lap, and the tray on the table. She picked up a few French fries and shot them into her mouth.

"_Key...She was so odd_." Her musings paused while she inhaled a portion of her milkshake. "_Why did she take that guy? She was definitely no officer. Was she like Kartock_..._?_"

"You just can't stay out of trouble, can you, Walker?"

Dawn instantly twisted her head to her backside. She was greeted by six eyes. "Umbreon! What are you doing here?"

Wizard and Ionu hopped off of Dusk's shoulders and landed on the table. Not caring much about asking her, they began partaking of the human food. Dusk took a seat on the metal chairs next to Dawn.

"Hard to stay asleep when my mother's blaring the 'breaking news' about how my girlfriend just threw her life in the frying pan for the umpteenth time."

Dawn smiled shyly, stealing some of her own fries before the Pokémon took them all. "It's a thrill..."

"Nice clothes," he complimented, also gladly changing the subject.

Dawn was beyond elated that her boyfriend noticed the new wardrobe. She looked herself over again, beaming. "I love them! They gave them to me for free, you know..."

More conversation between the humans commenced. The Pokémon stayed quieter, though that was because their mouths were usually stuffed full of food. In fact, they ran out of snacks faster than they did conversation. When the Pikachu and Torchic had finished cleaning Dawn's plate for her, the lot of them escaped from the large mall and began their trip back home.


	2. A Brand New Repeat

It was just after one in the afternoon when the two got back home. They split up once they got inside; Dawn decided to retire to her room for the time being, while Dusk's next stop was the kitchen. Wizard followed him, but Ionu stayed with Dawn.

"Hi, honey," Johanne greeted without turning around from the counter. "Everything all right? Was Dawn okay?"

Dusk smirked as he leaned into the fridge. "We're Team Missile. We may get stabbed, screwed over, cut, or thrown off a mountain, but somehow, we're always okay."

"Pika," Wizard agreed from his Trainer's shoulder.

"Well, that's...good." Johanne set some vegetables she had diced up to the side for a moment and picked up something else. "It wasn't very smart for Dawn to do that, you know."

Dusk's eyebrow was raised as he pulled out bread, mayo, and some luncheon meat. "What?"

"Well, it would have been a lot safer for her to just call the police and let them handle it."

"But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."

Johanne's body stopped moving. "Oh? You approve of this?"

Dusk shrugged, even though his mother's back was turned. "I have to. I honestly can't say that I would have done anything differently if I was her, so why should I be mad at her for doing it?"

There was a pause. Dusk continued making his sandwich and didn't think much of that stop until Johanne eventually replied. "Well, as long as nobody got hurt, I suppose that's all that really matters."

The boy remained silent, as did his Poké-pal. As he was just about to turn towards the living room and bring his sandwich in there, his mother decided to start conversation again.

"Do you want to talk about Dawn? I hear that you two have gotten rather close."

He froze in place. "...From when we first met each other, yeah, I guess we have. Is...there something you need to know about her?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. She must be pretty special if you decided to finally come out of your shell."

Dusk tapped his foot on the ground. "The reason I've never had a relationship before is because Twinleaf Town sucks."

"So you want to move?"

He spun around to glare at her. "Well, not now! Fourteen years in is a little late! I just found it strange that, by the end of the day that I stepped out of this town, I had met my three best friends. Is there somewhere that you're going with this?"

"...Look," she said after a small pause. "I love Dawn, and I think she's a great friend. But...as a girlfriend? I'm just...worried you're shooting too low, Umbreon, that's all."

"Chu!" Wizard roared.

"_What_ did you just say?" the Trainer hissed without any attempt at masking anger.

"I-I'm just looking out for you. Like I said, she's a great friend, but she might start to get...controlling eventually. And with how much trouble she gets into, you'll always be worried about her."

Umbreon didn't give any of those words the satisfaction of being responded to. Upon contemplating releasing all of his fuming anger on her, he ultimately decided it wasn't worth it and turned back around instead. As he started on his way back into the family room, his mother called him out on it.

"Now you're walking away?"

"It's either that or a few hundred volts up and down your spine..." he muttered back threateningly. He changed back to a more normal, though still clearly angry tone when he continued, "Mother, Dawn is one of the best things to happen to my life. If you think I'd give a nickel for your opinion of her, I'm afraid you're wrong."

"I-"

"No, my turn." Dusk's clenched his hands into fists, crushing the sandwich he was holding onto. "Who's this really about, Ma? Do you not trust Dawn, or do you not trust me?"

Johanne took a break from preparing dinner for the sake of looking her son in the eye. "I'm always on your side, honey-"

He gripped his own fingers even harder. Wizard heard the faint sound of his Trainer's lunch beginning to crack, but said nothing. "Then I'd _love_ to hear what your problem with Dawn is."

For the second time during the conversation, Johanne didn't reply straight away. She stared into her boy's brown eyes until she was no longer able to stand in their intensifying glare and ended up turning back around to face the vegetables. "No. Just, never mind. Forget I said anything, Umbreon."

A moment passed. Without warning, Dusk hurled the sandwich back onto the table. The top slice of bread stumbled off and rolled over twice, while the insides of the creation came close to following it. "Suddenly, I lost my appetite."

Finally, Dusk stormed off. By the time he left, the tension in the room was nearly unbearable. Johanne, however, continued working even inside of that, hiding her physical emotions well.

-**OAM**-

"_Five_..._I guess I fell asleep._"

Dawn was rather apathetic towards her finding out that she had been unconscious for the majority of the afternoon. It was 17:30 when her senses came to and she found herself sprawled out on her royalty-like bed. Looking around her room, the only reason she wasn't alone was due to Ionu, who happened to be constantly taunting her own reflection in the mirror. "Having fun?" the owner smirked.

Ionu spun around and met eyes with her Trainer. Seeing her awake made her jump twice in joy. "Torchic, Torchic!"

Dawn's head turned forward. After pacing herself, she got to her feet. "Wonder why Umbreon never came to get me..." she mumbled to herself as she made tracks for the door. She left the object half-open in case the Fire-type bird wanted to follow her; however, it was far too upset at its own reflection to do so, leaving the girl to venture around the house solo.

She was most curious of a door that was perfectly aligned on the opposite side of the hallway that her own room was. That curiosity peaked when she heard a sound from the other side of it.

The girl got next to the door and listened for a moment, but eventually convinced herself to knock.

"Yeah," answered a familiar male voice.

Dawn twisted the knob and gently poked her head inside the room before anything else. What she found was the bathroom; it was all tiled blue and barely any larger than the restrooms at Pokémon Centers. Dusk had been the cause of the noise she had heard before. He had pulled a bottle of medicine from a cabinet, creating a rattling sound. Wizard was sitting inside the sink.

"Pikachu," he greeted as his co-Trainer walked through the entrance.

"Enjoy your nap?" Dusk asked with a playfully mocking tone.

Dawn smiled. "A bit."

"Hey, Dawn...Come in here a minute. Shut the door."

Never being called in for a secret meeting in a bathroom before, Dawn blinked, but obliged. Once the door locked in place behind her, her eyes spotted the Pikachu lost in his own thoughts. To snap him back to reality, she reached over and began scrubbing underneath his ears.

At first, Wizard was stunned by the touch. When he looked up to see his favorite human girl smiling back down to him, he couldn't help a wide grin and began embracing the pampering. "Piiikaa!"

Dawn's smile didn't last long after Umbreon spoke. "So what do you think of my mother?"

She was granted a moment to think about her answer as Dusk swallowed a single ibuprofen pill. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough time. "...She's...nice," she slowly sputtered. "We had a conversation at breakfast. She's nice."

The Trainer set the bottle back in the cabinet and turned to Dawn. "You can be honest."

"She scares me," was Dawn's instant fix to her previous description. "That wasn't a conversation, it was an interrogation. I'm almost completely convinced that she can't stand the sight of me anymore."

"That answer sounds a little better." Dusk began brushing off the shoulders to Dawn's sleeveless top. "She interrogated me, too. But, headache or not, I think I figured out a way we can get back at her..."

-**OAM**-

A small amount of time passed. The two descended from the stairway hand-in-hand, directly into the white-walled room that the mother was sitting on a chair in. Another thing Johanne immediately observed was Dawn holding her handbag. Her shoulder was a resting place for Wizard, who craved a different chauffer for awhile. "Going somewhere?" Johanne asked them.

"Yeah. I'm taking Dawn out to dinner."

They reached the bottom of the stairs when Dawn gave Johanne a two-fingered salute. "And since I'm such a control freak, I'm making him pay for it!"

A surprised Johanne jumped up from her seat. "...Hm?"

"You know," Dusk said for his girlfriend. "Like what you told me earlier."

"Dawn, I didn't really mean that. What I was trying to say was..." After a break from talking, her eyes shifted to the boy instead. "Umbreon, you didn't have to tell Dawn what we were talking about..."

"Oh?" He stopped walking. Dawn stayed close and set her head on his shoulder, as she enjoyed doing so much. Wizard managed to remain almost completely neutral. "So you were intending to talk about Dawn behind her back, then."

"Well, I-"

"Wait, you were?" Dawn frowned. "All right, then I promise I won't tell Umbreon that you don't trust his decisions, okay?"

Dusk's head turned to his clearly-amused girlfriend for a second before turning back to his mother. "...Oh? That's a new one."

"I never said that!" Johanne retorted, catching on to the fact that Dawn saying that out loud was unmistakably on purpose.

"Then what do you have against me?" Dawn yelled demandingly, losing her look of enjoyment. "If Umbreon trusts me enough to be my boyfriend, I'd appreciate a little support from you!"

"You want to know why?" Johanne voiced loudly, trying to override Dawn's words. "It's because you're both fourteen! You don't have a clue what love is!"

Dawn left the safety of her companion's side in favor of taking a few steps forward. With Wizard right on her shoulder, she was plenty bold enough to do that. "_That's_ what all of this is about? You being an over-protective parent?"

"Shut up!" the mother shouted. "Maybe Umbreon doesn't have his father, but I've given him enough love for him and myself! Neither of you could comprehend that. Not yet."

"My father, huh?" Dusk walked forward, coincidentally standing next to Dawn again. Literally knowing how touchy a subject it was, Dawn stayed out of the conversation and kept her thoughts to herself. "Why don't you go on and tell me about him?"

Johanne turned her head away for a moment, but soon turned it back. "...The point is..."

Dusk moved his head to the side, lowered it, and scratched the back of his neck. His arm got a sympathetic rub from Dawn.

"...The point is that I have no problem with you two being friends. Great friends. Even close friends. But for you two to waltz right in here and blatantly display your love for each other insults me. Could I ask you two to keep it down..." She brought a hand up to her head and held it. "...at least in front of me? Please?"

Dusk didn't seem to be responding, so Dawn finally flared up her voice box. The sound she made came out a lot more calmly than it did a second ago. "...I think we can agree to that. I'm sorry, Mrs. Corsica. I didn't mean to blackmail you like that."

"It's...fine. You two just go out to your dinner. Have a good time."

"We'll give it our best shot." Dawn slowly stepped forward and grabbed her friend's hand. "C'mon...we should give your mom some space."

After getting tugged a couple times, Dusk silently complied. He didn't so much look at his mother as he passed by her.

-**OAM**-

Now outside, Dawn quickly got back into her previous position with her head setting comfortably on Dusk's shoulder. Neither one's legs were moving. "...I'm sorry, Umbreon."

"For what?" he asked quietly.

"You know that I know how much it hurts to not know who your father is...and having your mother just blow the topic away like that probably didn't help much."

"I just don't get why she won't tell me anything..." He rubbed his eyes. "But, I guess she never will. Anyway, let's get out of here. I'm hungr-"

"Umbreon?" Unlike him, Dawn still didn't move. She tugged at his shirt sleeve. "...You don't...have to do that. You know that, don't you?"

"...Do what?"

Dawn looked at the ground. "Keep things from me." Her eyes shot back up to her boyfriend. "Umbreon, if you're hurting, or something's bothering you, please let me know. You've helped me through my crying sprees countless times, and I'd love to return the favor..."

Dusk's face slowly began lighting up. "I know I can count on you. Thank you." He carefully put his arms around her waist and brought her in for a hug, ignoring the perched Wizard.

Soon enough, the two resumed on their way. Dawn decided to keep her cranium off of Dusk's shoulder for now, though she was tempted by it. "Hey, Umbreon, this has been bugging me for awhile...That fan fiction you were reading last night, with the girl with seventeen phobias? Did she also have a sprained-"

Her voice box halted production of any sound, which left Dusk unsure of why it happened. When he turned his head towards his girlfriend, he also noticed that she had stopped walking with her head shifted toward a different direction.

Following her gaze led him to an unfamiliar house's porch. Three men were all on it, though they were acting too suspiciously to assume they were the owners. One was fumbling around with the front door while the other two dutifully scanned the surroundings; despite being in plain view, neither seemed to pay attention to Dusk, Dawn, or the bandana-equipped Pikachu they had with them.

Dawn quietly gasped. "They're all wearing the same clothes the thief at the mall had on..."

The only difference she noticed was their own size and weight. It wasn't an important enough observation to worth adding onto her statement, though.

"So what does that mean?" he wondered.

"Don't know...I never had a chance to fight the criminal, so I don't know what they have."

Dusk's eyebrow rose when he looked at his girlfriend. "You didn't even fight that guy?"

"_Now_, Umbreon?" Dawn bit back with an incredulous voice. "Really?"

"Uhm...Right." Dusk adjusted his beret a fraction of an inch to compensate for his embarrassment. "Ready to roll, Wizard?"

The mouse flung itself off of Dawn, completing a full flip in the air before landing on the pavement with all fours. Not really needing to be commanded so, Wizard hastily built up as much electricity as he could before releasing the charge all at once. Quicker than they could prepare for it, all three thieves found themselves reluctant receivers of a solid Thunderbolt.

"Wh...What was that for, eh?" one of them shouted, leering at both Trainers.

Dusk set his gloved hands inside of his pockets. "You're breaking into a house, and you even need to ask a question like that?"

"Forget it, man!" a different one coached, slapping the first one on the arm before running for the stairs. "We got to-"

He stopped himself when he looked up at his opponents. Specifically, his eyes were on the one with blue hair. "Wait...I know you! You're the little snot that stopped me from robbin' that place!"

"Revenge later. Run now!" the third criminal sternly reminded him, stepping past his cohort on his way to running off.

Though he was starting to chase after his partner, Dawn focused on the one who had called her out. "_But how did he get away from_-"

"Going somewhere?"

Dawn's eyes turned forward. All three thieves had darted in the same direction. One person standing there stopped them all cold. "Key!" the girl exclaimed.

"Small town, isn't it, Dawn?" The silver-haired young woman seemed more than happy to block the path of the criminals. She'd retained her clothing from earlier that day, including the bullet-proof vest. Her arms were folded, while her defining orange-colored eyes were busy staring down the men in front of her like an insect. "I saw what you were doing back there, just so you know. I don't really condone it." Without any other warning, Key gave one of them a strong push.

He was shoved backwards, though readily caught by his friends. One spun around to ensure that the other two Trainers weren't sneaking up on them, while the remaining thieves kept their attention on Key.

All three baddies frowned. With one quick look at each other, one of them pulled out a rectangular item and threw it on the ground.

"It's a flashbang!" Key instantly reacted, "Cover your eyes!"

Everybody including Wizard did as they were told. On cue, the bomb went off, covering the entire street with incredible blinding light. It lasted only for a few seconds; however, a few seconds was enough to slip past Key.

The light faded as fast as it came, and within five seconds, everyone's vision returned to normal. The only thing out of place was the three thieves stampeding down the road. It was inevitable that they were soon being chased by three humans plus a Pikachu

Dusk and Dawn were equally surprised to see the strange new girl's agility. Though Wizard trumped her, she was able to pick up more speed than either of the Sinnoh Trainers.

The race continued for twenty minutes. There were no interruptions; nobody was around to jump in the path of the bad guys. The chase scene ended when the criminals managed to trap themselves between the heroes and the incredibly thick brush of a forest.

The criminals had unwillingly managed to bring the fight all the way over to a quaint dog-walking park. A few wooden benches dotted the comfortable atmosphere, commonly near shade-delivering oak trees. Others could be seen playing with their Pokémon, but they were what appeared to be miles off in the distance and not of much use to any of the six.

"Hey," Key used to get both the other Trainers' attention. Despite her athleticism, it wasn't surprising that even she was having a hard time catching her breath after nearly half an hour of nonstop running. "It's pretty safe to say by now that we need to calm them down first, right? Why don't you two take on two of them while I pound the other?"

"Fun," the boy remarked, setting his gaze back on the criminals. "Pick a body part, Dawn."

Dawn chuckled, slowly raising a Pokéball up. She was also panting as she focused for a battle. "It's your choice."

The two released Sunnite and Moonite, allowing them both to truly go back-to-back with each other for the first time. Wizard, though not needing to fight at the moment, was on all fours next to Dusk. He remained prepared to be tagged in on a single moment's notice.

One of the criminals suddenly growled and raised a Pokéball into the air. "You'll pay for messing me up at the mall earlier! That stupid girl is mine!"

"Sometimes I hate my job..." The other lifted a Pokéball up as well, though he appeared to be far less enthused by the idea of combat.

The double battle contestants were decided. To combat the unknown affinity power between a Luxio and Typhlosion, the enemies released a Mightyena and Sharpedo.

Dusk pulled out his Pokédex. Dawn's eyes were on the machine constantly, but all Umbreon did was point it at the opposing Pokémon and tap a few buttons. He soon set it away without a word being spoken about it.

"Sharpedo..." Its Trainer clenched his fist. "Head Smash! Go!"

"So I get to have my revenge on that mutt. Ha! Put 'em in their place with Scary Face, Mightyena!" the remaining one called out.

"They're anxious. We need to disrupt Mightyena, Moonite. Give it a quick Swift!"

Dawn quietly admired her close friend's tactical commands. The thing it did the most was raise the bar higher for herself. "Anxious to lose, you mean? Don't let the Head Smash connect! Block it with a Signal Beam!"

"Signal what?" Dusk echoed.

Mightyena's eyes began turning a nightmarish blue. Its intimidation attempt, however, was thrown off track by a series of glowing throwing stars relentlessly assaulting it. Possibly seconds before delivering a bone-breaking tackle to Moonite, Sharpedo was cut off by a multi-colored beam never seen by Dawn's partner before.

She turned to her teammate with a patient smile. "She learned that earlier today. I know it's a Bug-type move, so no better time to use it than to smack around these two."

Though the pulsating beam was blocking Sharpedo from Moonite, it did nothing against stopping an attack on its sender. Getting as much momentum as possible behind itself, Sharpedo began swimming through the air and crashed head-first into Sunnite. The lion was sent skidding on the ground until it finally tumbled over. Though weak from the heavy impact, Sunnite forced herself back onto her feet.

It seemed as though Moonite didn't take kindly to the cheap shot. He recklessly charged forward, being controlled by no one. He threw himself at Sharpedo in a blind attempt at a Double Edge maneuver. The attack connected, but the Typhlosion didn't exactly step out without a scratch. Sharpedo's horribly rough skin rubbed against the oppressor, and the pain wasn't easy to ignore. Moonite was looking to impress, however, so he threw the pain aside and used a close-range Brick Break on the shark.

Mightyena tore in from nowhere. Taking advantage of Moonite's blind rage against the fish, the quadruped took the time to land a rib-shattering Crunch. Its teeth sunk into Moonite's body with dangerous depth. Not being able to fend the creature off on his own, Moonite fell to the ground and howled in agony.

Sunnite, of course, had different things to say about that matter. Having every intention and a little bit more of returning the favor, the proud Luxio charged in to save her beloved. Mightyena didn't even have time to drop its attack and get out of the way of the incoming Iron Tail. Slapping it straight across the right side of its face with a steel-like tail was plenty to forcefully push Mightyena away.

For the Electric-type, this wasn't enough. Abusing the favorable position of close-range that she was in, Sunnite leapt forward and landed a very sharp tackle into the opposing wolf. By this time, nothing had interrupted the combination of attacks, so there was no reason to stop them. She turned on a single paw and whipped Mightyena with a second Iron Tail. Since that move had blasted Mightyena too far away for another physical attack, Sunnite switched up her tactic. A large portion of her remaining power was devoted into the next Discharge attack, leaving Mightyena to feel every shocking ounce of it.

None of the human combatants were able to not blink in total disbelief. The past fifteen seconds were almost too intense to follow for any of them. All four Pokémon were clearly tiring, and the Trainers had barely said a word.

Dawn was the one to come out with words first. "You shouldn't fight anymore if you can't, Sunnite. Are you absolutely sure you want to continue?"

Panting and limping, Sunnite walked in front of her Trainer. Her eyes, however, never left her newest rival: that black dog.

"You aren't going anywhere either, are you, Moonite?" Dusk inquired.

He gave a quick snort as a response. Similar to his own partner, he also got back to his feet and blocked his Trainer from attack.

"Get up! Get up, Mightyena, and let's rip 'em to shreds! Since they liked the first one so much, give them another Crunch!"

"Hurry up and use a Surf at-"

Uninvited footsteps could be heard dashing up from behind, causing the thief's command to be cut off. "Hold it," came calmly from the seventh party when he was close enough to be heard.

Since the voice had come from the rear, the three heroes turned around. Key's eyes widened slightly when she saw who it was, but neither of the other two seemed particularly bothered by his appearance.

"Who are...you?" Dawn finally spoke up.

His jogging became a walk as he stepped up to the team. The locks of hair that dangled in front of his eyes matched perfectly with his attitude: bloody red. He was wearing jeans and a dark green autumn jacket. The item was unseasonal, but he didn't look like one to be bothered by that. He matched Key in height, meaning he stood at a menacing six feet. He didn't stop walking until he was standing directly beside Dawn. He glared at her as she felt the air around them becoming cold and demonic just by his presence. "Tell me something," he stated in an irritated-sounding tone.

"...Something..." she slowly pushed out of her mouth.

"What are you doing meddling with Team Aqua's affairs?" he continued.

Dusk pumped his fists. "What's that to you?"

His eyes lifted to meet Dusk's for a moment. They soon fell back down to the girl he was towering over.

"What are you talking about? Team Aq-"

"Lay off them," Key demanded in a firmer-than-usual voice. "They're decent kids. It's not what you're thinking."

Not exactly convinced, the cherry-haired male turned to stare at the three grunts across the field. They all cringed by the simple look. "Would you three get the hell out of this country? Run back to the corner in Hoenn where you all cower anyway. Or would you prefer to go back _my_ way?"

None said anything.

"Hmph." He turned his attention back to the quiet Sinnoh Trainers. "You two. Stay out of this." Finally, his attention turned to Key. "I'm going to Hoenn. I'm finding where their hive is and burning it. I don't care if you follow me, just stay out of my way." Digging his hands into his pockets, he left almost as quickly as he came.

Despite the heated action that had happened just moments ago, neither heroes or villains were thinking about fighting in the least. The group of six simply watched the chilling boy return from where he had come from.

"...There just is no party until that guy shows up, is there?" Dusk wondered.

Dawn huffed a sigh. A part of her knew that a battle needed finishing, and having her confidence shattered by that one man's look didn't make her life any better. The breath of air marginally helped her relax.

The final member sighed. "I know a little of his back-story...but right now, we got our own problems to deal with." Key straightened up and returned to her own battle.

"R-right," Dusk agreed, forcing himself to do the same.

Dawn followed suit as well. "Sunnite, we need to wrap this up, and fast! Charge!"

Dusk's head turned back to the front, though that wasn't where his mind was. "_What's with the sudden rush?_"he wondered to himself. "Get ready to cover her, Moonite!"

Predictably enough, Sunnite's power-up with definitely threatened. A piercing Water Gun and fatal Tackle were both promptly put to rest by her guardian angel, however. He heated the water up with a Flamethrower, so when it collided with him, it wouldn't hurt as much. He fought Mightyena's Tackle by crashing into him head-on and winning.

"Umbreon, I need Moonite's help!"

"He's all yours," Dusk politely replied.

The girl pumped her fist. Her plans weren't the safest, but her confidence in the Pokémon was high enough to attempt it anyway. "Let's get started. Sunnite, springboard off of Moonite!"

The lion, now rather full of energy, did as she was told. Moonite got into a good position, then flung his partner into the air as high as he could launch her.

"Yes, yes!" Dawn cheered.

Already the move was becoming a spectacle. On top of both Dusk and Dawn, Key and all of the criminals it was aimed at had their eyes glued to the airborne mammal.

"Moonite, Fire Spin!" she continued, "Create a vortex for Sunnite to fall through!"

The next order was promptly completed. Spinning around at a steady pace, a burning tornado of fire hovered in the air; conveniently, it had been placed over the two opposing Pokémon.

"The clincher! Sunnite, Spark!"

Instantly, the controllable energy that Sunnite had Charged up earlier shifted into a Spark attack. Now at maximum power and falling speed, Sunnite began to spin in the air.

Sunnite began spinning through the air as she rushed into the Fire Spin. The twirling created a vortex, causing the fire to follow her. When she finally got out of the whirlpool of lava, she was surrounded in not only electricity anymore, but also a barrier of flame.

"And then the final step...don't hurt yourself!" Dawn called out a little bit louder than normal, just to make sure she heard.

Though always trusting her able leader, even Sunnite knew it was a bit too late for an insurance policy. This attack was created to be all or nothing.

It took about half a second to crash into the ground.

The result was an actual explosion. With so much inertia equipped with two elements, no force could stand up to it. Smoke and dust covered the entire field for a few seconds, but a rather dramatic gust of wind suddenly swept it all away.

Mightyena, Sharpedo, and even the third criminal's Pokémon were fainted the moment the attack had touched down. When the dust first settled, Sunnite was still standing on her feet; however, after a moment, the humongous impact made her too weak, and she collapsed to the ground as well.

Quite inevitably, there was a crater-sized hole where Sunnite had landed.

Dawn scurried into the fray. She looked up to see the criminals being taken care of by Key, but paid attention to that for only a second. She slid on her knees, picked the lion up, and hugged her. "You have no idea how amazing you looked. You were so awesome, Sunnite. Thank you."

Dusk walked up behind her. In his hand was an orange bottle containing Pokémon Potion. A tired Moonite was next to him. "That's the only thing I've witnessed in my life that calling it 'over-the-top' would be an understatement. Care to tell me where those moves were when we fought Galactic?"

Dawn giggled. When she realized the medicine was being handed to her, she greedily took it and sprayed the contents on the injured Pokémon. Sunnite was then recalled into her Pokéball for further safety. "Thank you, Umbreon," Dawn mentioned, getting back to her feet and handing the empty bottle back to her friend. "And definitely thanks to you, Moonite. You were just as great out there!"

Moonite gave a battle-scarred smirk to the girl. Before he could voice gratitude, he suddenly disappeared into his Pokéball as well.

"Well, that's it for this batch..." Key explained, stepping over to the team. "Nice, uhm...move back there, by the way."

"I do my best..." As if to remind the curious boy that he already had a girlfriend, Dawn grabbed Dusk's hand and rested her head on his shoulder again. "Oh, Umbreon, this is Key. She took care of the guy at the mall earlier."

Key laughed. "I do my best. Nice to meet you, Umbreon." The alleged fifteen-year-old held her hand out.

Dusk slowly shook it. "The pleasure's mine..." he said, though his voice sounded a bit hesitant.

Dawn cut into the introduction. "So what was with that guy that was just here?"

Key sighed as she put her hands on her hips and turned her head to the direction that person had disappeared in, as if he was going to return. "Honestly, I don't know that much. He's just been popping up randomly, apparently death-bent on getting Team Aqua out of Sinnoh. I've met up with him quite a bit."

Dawn wasn't very satisfied with that amount of knowledge. "What's his name?"

"More than one Team Aqua grunt would call him the Grim Reaper, I can tell you that much. Other than that, I've personally only got one name from him. Silver."

Unlike his partner, Dusk didn't find Silver to be a necessary topic. Another thing Key said had much more value to him. "Team Aqua?"

"Yeah. That in and of itself is quite a long story. To put it the short way, they're just a bunch of second-rate crooks. They've never branched out of Hoenn before, though. But, as you can easily tell, their first venture into Sinnoh isn't turning out too well so far."

"Good," Dusk said in reply. "Let's keep it that way."

"Mm..." Key hummed with an absent mind. "Anyway, I suppose I should get out of here."

"Wait," the other girl instantly reacted. "Key, I'm glad that you've been helping us, but the thing is that...we don't know very much about you. I mean, if you're not busy, maybe..." her voice trailed off.

Key turned her head to look at the middle cuffed grunt. He did nothing but blink. After a moment, she turned her head back to the Trainers with a small smile. "I'm just here to make sure everything goes right."

Anything more was interrupted by a quiet rustling sound. The trio turned their heads to see a familiar black bomb rolling on the grass.

"Another flash?" Dusk shouted.

All three disguised their eyes for a second time. Once again, the light faded quickly, and the end result was something similar to last time. Within seconds, all three criminals were almost out of sight. One of them seemed to be holding a small green garbage bag, though the Trainers didn't think much about it.

"They just don't give up, do they?" Dusk wondered.

"I hate to say this, but maybe you two should just take it easy now," Key suggested. "I'll take care of these three. Don't worry about me."

Dusk turned to his partner. She stayed quiet; as usual, she'd follow whatever Dusk's decision was.

His thoughts shifted when he saw three more flashes of light. He turned to the burglars and saw that they had all jumped on Flying-type Pokémon. They were already slowly getting off the ground.

"Dang...!" Key exclaimed, noticing the same thing. "I bet they're already going to Hoenn. I got to get after them. You two, please, relax! I can handle this. That's what I'm here for." Without giving them time to say a word, Key turned to her side and began running after the trio.

"...What do you want to do?" Dawn asked quietly.

He closed his eyes. "If Key...says she can handle it, I think it's best that we just let her do it. Besides, our dinner reservations are going to waste. C'mon, Wizard, let's-" He looked around. Unwanted panic began surging through his body as he noticed a distinct lack of yellow around the area. "...Where's Wizard?"

Dawn also started turning her head left and right. "Uhm...He was here a minute ago..."

Dusk turned his head to the northern sky. Three of them were all in the lead, though Key was gaining ground quickly. His eyes, however, shifted to that green bag that one of them was holding.

"...Wizard..." he muttered under his breath.

Dawn gasped, raising her hand to her chest in worry. "Wh-what do we do? We don't have any Flying-types!"

Despite the adrenaline and his partner not helping any, Dusk's thoughts were able to remain mostly clear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an item he had been hanging onto.

She noticed what he was doing, which helped her smile weakly. "It's that whistle that Latias told Brendan to give to you! Ever figure out what that thing-"

"It's _going_ to call Latias," he stated coldly, putting a threatening accent on the word. He put the blue whistle up to his mouth and blew as hard as he could.

Dawn remembered that she was the one who told him it might do that. That memory made her feel uncomfortable about how that sentence came out. "Oh..."

Dusk's eyes, now flaming in anger, turned back to the whistle. "...I'm going to save Wizard. Are you coming or not?"

"What? But..." Dawn paused while she formulated words to say. This not being his first stolen Pokémon meant that she needed to sound understanding, though there was still a point to get across. "But, Ionu, and your mom...We can't just leave for Hoenn without warning!"

"Then _you_ stay here," he recommended coldly. A chilling glare complimented it. "I'll go save one of the best friends that I have."

Dawn's head lowered. Interrupting her decision, a strapping young girl came running up to them. She didn't look familiar, but when she reached the two, she bowed cordially.

"Latias?" Dusk questioned.

She nodded, a happy smile on her face.

"Transform back into a Pokémon. I just got a Pokémon stolen from me one too many times, and I'm going to make sure that somebody knows that."

Latias, intimidated and flustered as Dawn was right now, gulped. She slowly nodded her head in agreement, then morphed back into the red Dragon-type.

Dusk fearlessly hopped on. "You got three seconds to decide if you're coming or not."

Dawn nearly reached the extent of her time. Finally, and a little reluctantly, she nodded her head. Accepting Dusk's overly-tensed hand up, Dawn also got on top of Latias.

Knowing that she just abandoned the Pokémon that her very best friend had given her wasn't comforting. However, it was too late now; they were going to any lengths that were called for in order to rescue the mouse, and looking back wasn't an option.

Nervously, Latias hovered off the ground, and soon tore off in the direction that Umbreon told her to.

-**OAM**-

"Torchic! Torchic!"

Back in Dusk's home, there was a single Fire-type that was oblivious to being abandoned. Her mind was kept far too busy as she rode the unforgettable ride known as a rumbling washing machine. She wasn't quite sure why it was vibrating like that, but lacking that knowledge didn't stop her from hopping on top of it and squealing jubilantly.

The trip ended shortly; barely even a minute after hitching a ride, the bird was left to sit in silence as the wash cycle ended and the machine automatically shut down. She looked around briefly, but soon purposely fell from her perch and bolted for the open door.

Down the stairs was the most tempting spot to visit. She knew that her Trainer had headed down there and, despite being quite late by now, finally decided to follow her. With peppy leaps, she made her way down one step at a time.

Her surprise about not finding her master in the living room wasn't very great. She was most likely in a different room, the Pokémon told herself. As she scatted for a different doorway, she noticed that there was someone in here. Though she didn't recognize the woman very well, she realized that she was on the phone. The details about the conversation were scarce, but the Torchic did catch one proclamation muttered from the woman's mouth.

"...I should never have left. I'll leave for Hoenn tonight."

Ionu stared blankly towards her. After a moment passed and she could confirm that the woman was quite serious, she cocked her head to the side. "Torchic?"


	3. Correcting Past Mistakes

Hours passed. Dusk made sure that Key and the thieves never once got out of sight range. The entire trip was silent save only for the times when Umbreon would harshly ridicule Latias for slowing down. Dawn was too scared and confused to say anything.

It wasn't until late evening, when the sun could barely be seen anymore, that the day's second chase scene began to cease. The baddies lowered altitude, eventually landing on a decent-sized island. A relaxing beach was ringed around the entire exterior of the land mass, while the rest was covered by thick brush. Though quite a bland sight, the deserted-looking islet was also a wonderful place to hide.

Dusk wordlessly pointed to the place. Tired far beyond what her body could handle healthily, Latias nodded her head and began descending as well.

Simply a few moments later, the team crashed into the island. Latias landed on the beach roughly, skidding forward even further after doing it. With his mind still fogged about Wizard, Dusk didn't care about the Pokémon's well-being in the least. He jumped off the dragon and dashed into the forest.

He dashed in alone. Dawn stayed on the beach with Latias, who had morphed into the human girl she was earlier. Shoulder-length brown hair, with a pretty, almost sparkly sky blue dress underneath it. She seemed to keep the same age she used at Coronet. She was close to passing out from the rigorous, constant flight.

Dawn sat on the backs of her own legs, then lifted Latias's head onto her lap. She fell on top of her face and allowed a few tears to slip out. "Latias...Latias, I'm so sorry you had to go through that..." Dawn shakily shifted her gaze to look into the forest where Dusk had run off to. "He's not being himself right now..."

-**OAM**-

Meanwhile, Dusk was running through the forest faster than he had ran through Mount Coronet when getting chased by two gods. His most important Pokémon missing was his inspiration.

Not far ahead of him, he noticed Key leaning on a tree with a single hand. Her head was bowed, and she was panting heavily. Dusk actually slowed his pace until he caught up to her, when he stopped. "Where _are_ they?" he asked in a blood-thirsty tone.

Key chuckled lightly. "For such out-of-shape men, they're faster than you'd think." She put her hand on her back and stood up straight. "They just kept running. I can't imagine they'd be too far."

Dusk took a single step forward, but was stopped after that.

"Wait! I ran into Silver, and he's looking for them too. Just a heads up."

Umbreon didn't say anything. He just continued the race.

"I'll be there in a second!" she called out. Her head then turned over her shoulder. She immediately stopped panting. "...Just gotta go figure out why you're here, that's all," she said to herself. Slowly, she began walking in the direction Umbreon came from.

Dusk jumped a fallen log with ease. "_Out of shape. That's a compliment for them if I've ever heard one_." He suddenly came to a screeching halt. He hid behind a tree, but peeked his head around it.

"You were pathetic as a group. Abandoned, you're not even worth looking at."

A loud scream of pain echoed through-out the forest afterwards. Dusk could only imagine what that had been. Soon enough, the familiar cherry-haired Trainer began walking into Umbreon's direction. He made it up to Dusk, but didn't turn to him. He continued looking straight ahead. "What are you doing here, kid?"

He pumped his fist. "These fools took my Pokémon. I'm here to get it back."

This seemed to give Silver a quick boost of interest. He turned his head to the boy, genuinely curious. "Stolen?"

"It was mine. Then they took it. That means it was stolen," Dusk explained sarcastically. In his current, adrenaline-fueled attitude, Silver failed to intimidate him.

The satire reached its target. However, instead of getting mad, Silver actually turned his head over his shoulder and smirked. "You got one less to look for. In case you didn't know that."

"Where are they, Silver? I'll tear the other two apart with my bare hands if I have to."

The red bangs instantly shifted back to Dusk. "How do you suppose you caught my name?"

Dusk cracked his finger bones with his thumb. He was sick of standing still while the other two got away with his irreplaceable friend. "Key told us back in Sinnoh."

"Hmph." He turned his back to Dusk. "That girl with the gray hair? I don't like her. There's something not right about her." He reached in his pocket; his hand came back out holding a knife. He paced forward a few steps, then suddenly jammed the item into a tree as hard as he could. The entire blade pierced through the woody plant, leaving only the handle visible. "I'm going after the other two. If I find your Pokémon, I'll tell it to track down this knife and wait here for you. If you think about it, grab the knife when you're through with it. If we ever meet up again, I'd appreciate it back." With that said, he began walking forward.

Umbreon, however, wondered one last thing. "You're obviously more cold-hearted than what you claim Key to be. Why are you helping me?"

Silver smirked. Umbreon couldn't see it, but he did hear it in the Trainer's voice. "Consider it thanks for bringing up some good memories for me."

-**OAM**-

In a different part of the small island, Dawn was now sitting on the sand. The actual human had stopped any flow of tears for the time being. Latias, though still tired, was feeling much better from Dawn's close care. Her spirits were back up to cheerful amounts, like always. She was playing at the edge of the beach with Charmy, with both enjoying the water splashing against their legs and flippers, respectively.

Since it was getting so late, Dawn had already prepared. She gathered a decent pile of sticks and leaves together and started a small campfire. She was sitting lazily by it, somewhat starting to doze off. Her conscious moments were spent watching Latias, still human, and Charmy play together. Her heart jumped when a new member approached her from the back.

"You're adaptive," she complimented. "Self-made fire. You like a girl scout or something?"

Dawn chuckled after finally recognizing the voice to be Key's. "Not exactly. Let's just say survival comes naturally to me these days. Anyway, why are you here? Shouldn't you be hunting for those Team Aqua guys?"

"Eh...There's two attack dogs in there already searching for them. They can handle it." Key impolitely took a seat next to Dawn, also facing the compatible Pokémon by the shore.

Dawn didn't mind the company in the least. "Two? Umbreon and...?"

"Silver. That guy might be a nutcase, but he knows how to shut the baddies down." Key laid down, causing grains of sand to randomly pile onto her shiny grey hair. "I'd actually like to ask you your own question. What made you come here?"

Dawn shook her head, rather disappointed in the answer. "It was...Umbreon. One of those idiots took his Pikachu, and his mind kinda...flipped, I think." She sighed. "I love Wizard, but honestly, it's Latias and myself that I'm worried about right now...This trip would have been a lot more fun if he wasn't always yelling at Latias for going so slow. She was going as fast as she could! I'm sure everything will be all right if he finds Wizard, but if he doesn't...I mean..."

"...At least you're making it easy for yourself to go to sleep tonight. That's the important thing." She smirked upon getting Dawn to laugh. "Hey, Dawn, when I first looked behind me and saw you two hot on my tail, the first thought that entered my mind was...You do trust me, don't you? To take Team Aqua down?"

"I think so...I mean, I do! You helped us out a lot today. One of these days, we should hang out."

There was nothing but silence from the other girl for a few moments, leaving Dawn to assume that it was a wordless agreement. Eventually, Key sat up and ran her hand through her waist-long hair once to remove some of the sand. "I have an idea. Why don't you and Latias just head back to Sinnoh now?"

Dawn furrowed her eyebrows. "...Huh? Why?"

"To put it bluntly, the only thing that staying on this island without looking for Team Aqua would do to you is let them take one of you as a hostage, and then this would suddenly turn into a game of life-and-death for everybody. It's pretty dangerous here, you know. Leave Team Aqua to us three. And don't worry, I'll make sure Umbreon gets a ride back too."

Dawn gave a light smile to nothing in particular. "How I'd love to spend another night in that awesome bed...Anyway, that's just a dream. I can't leave. Latias is way too tired to make it all the way back to Sinnoh tonight. Besides that, it's minutes away from sunset. And finally, I honestly think I'd worry about Umbreon and Wizard too much. Even if it is kinda dangerous, I'm just going to stay here for the night."

"Well, that's one way to shut me down." Key got to her feet. "I better get back in there. Honestly, I'd like to find those guys before Silver does. Please, please be careful out here, all right? Sleep with an eye open, and always have a Pokémon ready to protect you, got it?"

"I understand. You be careful too!"

"Aren't I always?" Key got a few steps out of Dawn's visual range. Once there, she turned her head over her shoulder and looked at Dawn. "...Stupid girl..." she muttered.

She tore off like lightning into the pitch-black jungle.

-**OAM**-

Dusk was cautiously strolling through the forest. His eyes shifted side to side constantly, trying desperately to catch so much as a glimpse of a blue bandana. Nobody, not even himself, was going to tell him that he was lost, even though that was quite the case. Gratefully to him, however, he soon found his way to a clearing. That clearing contained nothing else but a Pokémon battle waiting to happen.

Dusk sprinted up to the solo member of the two teams. "Both at one time. Not a bad job."

Silver jerked his head to his ambitious partner. "I don't do the teamwork thing," he explained icily. "If either of these two has your Pokémon, you can get it when I'm through with them."

The gradually-cooling fire flared right back up quickly. Dusk returned the glare at the red-headed boy next to him. "My Pokémon was stolen by these two worthless piles of scum. I couldn't care less who you think you are, but if you think I'm just going to sit by and watch you rescue my partner, words will never describe how far off you are."

A steadily-growing smile was rising on Silver's face. "...I'm starting to like you more and more, kid." With his arms folded crisply, he turned back to their enemies. "You got this kid's Pokémon?"

The more abrasive of the two Aquas clenched his fist and yelled, "And what if we do?"

Silver took a moment to spit on the ground. "If you do, then you got three and a half seconds to hand it over before we make you regret not doing that."

The same one lifted his head up a bit, moving into position so he could stare at Silver down his nose. "The brat's rodent's just fine. For now."

Silver gave a frown. "They always need convincing." Correctly assuming where this was going, the nineteen-year-old lifted a Pokéball to neck-level.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Dusk mirrored his unlikely ally's move, though his Pokéball made it up to his chin.

"Want some more, huh? Crawdaunt, let's go!"

The Aqua's teammate sighed. "You say that like we won the last time..." He blandly shot a Pokéball into the arena as well. Upon its explosion, the ancient Pokémon Relicanth was revealed. The fish's rock-hard body could barely be seen in the darkness of night.

"Hmph. Idiots. What a waste of time," Silver noted out loud. He actually put the Pokéball in his hand away and pulled out another one. "Although it's amusing, torturing the weak, I don't have time for this tonight. Get out there and don't screw this up, Electabuzz."

"Why don't you evolve-"

Dusk couldn't even finish his sentence before receiving another of Silver's fatal glares. "I don't need a punk like you telling me how to raise my Pokémon. If you feel that you need to get in my way, hurry up and get it over with."

Dusk kept all his thoughts to himself as he threw Moonite's Pokéball into the air. The fiery beast instantly lit up half the clearing due to his flame-covered vents. Mostly, though not completely healed from his earlier battle, Moonite let out a proud roar.

Once more, Silver stared at his teammate. "You send in a Fire-type against two Water-types? You're even worse than I thought. Look, kid, just stay out of this. I'll get your 'pal' back a lot quicker without you here than with." He even did the air quotes.

"This Typhlosion is the only other Pokémon I have on me," Dusk snapped back, though staying somewhat calm. "If I had my Pikachu, I'd love to-"

"A rodent? We're fighting for a stupid rodent?" He shifted his head back to the battle, though it hadn't even started yet. "I was expecting something of worth. If you want a mouse, go find one and catch it. You don't have to go play hero for one stupid mouse."

Dusk growled. That turned to a snarl. "'That stupid mouse' was given to me by Dawn. Last time I checked, you don't have much of a right to criticize-"

"Touching. Crawdaunt, Bubblebeam!"

The younger boy breathed in deeply to calm himself, then also turned back to the battle. "...Look. We have a common enemy. Maybe we're fighting them for different reasons, but we-"

"For once, I agree with an Aqua. Touching." Silver pointed at the incoming bubbly attack. "Electabuzz, Thunderbolt!"

The black- and yellow-colored Pokémon grunted. Quickly charging energy, he shot every last bubble that was on its way to hit Moonite.

"Thanks," Dusk managed to get out.

Silver turned his head to the sky. "Don't you get it yet, kid? I don't care about you. Or your worthless Pokémon. But apparently, I got a teammate, whether I want one or not. I'll need to kick a baby Seel in the face later for saying this, but let's just try to work through this..." He cringed. "...t-t-together. All right?"

"Was that an angel getting its wings?" Dusk shifted his weight to his other leg. "No playing around, Moonite. We can't let Types stop us. Eruption!"

"Hmph. I might as well be doing it myself. Electabuzz, ThunderPunch on Crawdaunt."

Dusk growled, but restrained himself from yelling again.

Moonite understood that he had a lot of ground to cover for. Fighting a Water-type, let alone two of them, would be an uphill battle. Giving one last, dramatic roar, he turned to the sky and unleashed meteorite-sized fireballs into the air, set on a course to come down in a few seconds.

His partner, however, was moving along briskly, its only wish to obey its master's desires. The Electabuzz ran up to Crawdaunt and gave it a solid punch; its electrified hand, however, was caught by a claw. It swiftly charged the remaining arm up and tried again, but once more, its hand was encased in an indestructible shell.

Silver's eyes turned to the sky. He groaned in despair. "...Duck!"

Electabuzz, still trapped, lowered its head. Moonite's meteor of flame fell back to earth, smacking the now-revealed Crawdaunt straight in the chest. Its clamps loosened, and Electabuzz was free. Taking advantage of the flinching creature, the Electric-type tried ThunderPunch one last time, this one ending a bit more successfully. Crawdaunt was on the receiving end of a shocking uppercut, and it felt every ounce of voltage. The force caused it to leap into the air slightly, then back to the grass, face-planting in it.

Dusk smirked. He couldn't help himself. "Say it. C'mon. Say it."

The frozen orbs called Silver's eyes shifted off to the side. "...We're even now. Whatever."

"Let's try taking them both out at once. Relicanth, Surf!"

"Aw, yeah!" the other complimented. "Double Surf, let's go, Crawdaunt!"

"Recall your Pokémon," Silver requested without emotion. His arms folded up.

"What? Why?"

"It's not needed anymore. This fight's done right now."

Though quite curious, Dusk silently agreed. He hated to break a rule of battle, but considering his opponents' identities, he figured any form of rules were the last thing on their minds. Moonite, sharing his Trainer's confusion, was returned to his home.

"Into the middle, Electabuzz."

Confusing every human and Pokémon alike, spare Silver, Electabuzz moved forward, then curled into a ball on the ground.

"I've heard of rolling over and dying, but I never thought I'd actually see it!" Crawdaunt's Trainer exclaimed.

Silver didn't say anything. In fact, he didn't even reply with a physical movement.

The two Surf attacks crashed together, simultaneously nailing the spot Electabuzz was cowering in. A few seconds before the victors seemed decided, the water itself began lighting up. Crawdaunt and Relicanth, both of which were still riding the Surfs, were electrocuted. Seconds passed, and it wasn't until the grass absorbed all the water that the shock therapy was stopped.

Electabuzz weakly got to his feet. Being in the middle of two crashing waves didn't help it to feel very good. It was still in a better condition than one of its rivals, however; Crawdaunt was on the ground, completely unconscious. The rock fish was nearly as weak as Electabuzz, but still able to continue.

"Uh...Hey! My Pokémon can still fight, so ha, you little-"

A knife getting shoved less than an inch away from his neck was enough to make that sentence end prematurely. "I'm a little what? Finish that sentence."

Tears nearing his eyes, the Aqua grunt gulped. "...That's okay..."

Dusk turned his head to the side. He found himself alone on the field, only to realize a moment later that Silver had used that scene as a distraction to slip off unnoticed to the other side of the arena.

"It's funny, really. You mention that your Pokémon can still fight, but what about you?" The knife rubbed up against his neck even closer. It wasn't enough to injure anything, though. "Looks like you're not in much of a commanding position. Still. Tell your fish to attack my Pokémon. I promise I won't hurt you. And you can trust me, obviously, right?"

"Um...Little...Little help here..."

Silver nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Ask for help. Get your buddy to assist you. However, if your buddy doesn't help you, I _will_ promise you that you can breathe for another thirty seconds."

He gulped again. "...Sounds...good."

"Excellent. As much as I detest this, if we've come this far, we might as well finish it. Where's the punk's Pokémon?"

"Case...Case! Give them the freaking little Pokémon, Case! It ain't worth this!"

Visibly shaking, the remaining of the grunts stepped forward a bit and slid off a backpack. He reached inside and pulled out the bag that Dusk had eyed before. Backing away from it at double time followed.

"Good job, Case," Silver complimented. "Keep going, and you might work your way up to a minute of life left. I'm in a decent mood right now. At any rate, forgive me while I speak with my ami over there." He cleared his throat and increased the volume of his voice, even though Dusk could hear what he was saying rather clearly before. "Is there a reason you're still here, kid? You got your stupid rodent back, so beat it. I already told you to stay out of this."

Dusk didn't verbally reply yet. He stepped forward, his shoes slurring on the completely drenched ground that now filled the area. He took a gentle hold of the bag and reached inside. When his hand came back out, it was gripping an unconscious Pikachu, naturally with a green headband around it. He must have gotten knocked out quickly, which explained why he didn't struggle against getting captured in the first place-something the boy had been curious of. Umbreon took a moment to hug his friend, forgetting about the cold-blooded criminal that stood a few yards away from him.

"Yay. We're a happy family again. Wonderful. You got your moment, now give me mine," Silver ordered.

"Um, um, um...Sir? We really didn't mean to take your Pokémon!" the un-choked guard persuaded. "Honest! When we were running away, it just latched onto my leg!"

The boy glared at the likely story. "And then jumped into the bag?" Coldly turning his back to the scene, Dusk began walking in the direction he had come from. "For what it's worth, thanks, Silver."

"The only thanks I need is you staying out of my way."

"Like I said. For what it's worth." He gave a light, bored wave with the back of his hand before leaving the clearing and back into the forest.

Silver pushed the knife even deeper. It cut into the skin, but once more failed to do any serious harm. "I give free burials at sea, if you'd like."

-**OAM**-

Dusk continued walking for what felt to him like an hour; in actuality, it was about twenty minutes.

Amidst the forest, somebody came running towards him. Though the trees shrouded the surroundings from the moonlight, just a few cracks here and there was all he needed to notice the natural grey hair. "Hey, Key. What's up?"

"Hmm...Umbreon. Not who I thought it was, but it could still be worse. Right now, I'm just pretending this is a deleted scene from a bad action movie."

"Well, the flick's over. You'll have to catch the next airing."

"What? You found them? All three?" Key asked, surprised.

"Nope. Your friend back there actually tracked all three down. I barely did anything. Just got my Pokémon and left."

"Silver?..." Key stepped forward. "Shoot. Too late again."

"Again?" he echoed.

"I don't know how, but Silver's almost always beaten me to the punch. When I saw Dawn staring the grunt down at the mall this morning, I was glad to see a different shade of hair besides red. It's great that he's trying to track them down, but...does he really need to kill every single one he comes across? It's called jail for a reason."

Dusk, generally not much of a conversationalist, managed to pick out a certain thing about that story. "So the one Dawn fought was the first one you got?"

"Not the first one, but way too close to it, if you ask me."

"How long have their attacks actually been going on?" Dusk resumed.

"They've been dotting places all around Twinleaf Town for about a week and a half now. If you live there, it's somewhat strange that you haven't seen them before all this. Anyway, I hate to cut our conversation short, but I need to go find Silver. If you're looking for Dawn, just keep heading straight. She has a fire going, so just look for that."

"Thanks, K-"

Footsteps could be heard blazing nearby. They were swift, so it didn't take long for them to meet up with the group. "Are you a hippie or something?" a recognizable, chilly voice inquired. "I told you to leave. Do it already."

"Umm...I'm going to go get my ride now. Do you mind?" Dusk replied.

"Silver?" Key interrupted the feud. "What are you doing here? What's the problem?"

"The problem? Here's the problem. The other one got away!"

"What?" Key exclaimed. Dusk chose to remain silent, though he silently wondered the same thing.

"I'm slipping. I was so focused on one of them, that the other managed to get away. He's already flying back to Hoenn. I don't have plans of him getting more than three steps into Hoenn."

"So why are you running in this direction? Shouldn't you just take off after him?"

Silver grinned. It was incredibly rare for that to happen, leaving the others feeling uncomfortable. "I noticed a Latias crash into the beach earlier. While I'm here, I might as well make a little money off it, too." With all due speed, he began tearing off in the same direction Dusk was heading.

"...S-Silver? Silver! Wait!"

A mad chase ensued. In spite of her previously-shown athletic skills, even Key couldn't manage to catch up to Silver and stop him.

Dusk gulped. "..._Aw, no_..."

They had lost sight of him.

-**OAM**-

"Hey, Latias?" Dawn wondered.

Charmy had been recalled. Once more, the human Latias was laying her head on Dawn's lap. The girl was sitting up, with her head turned to the southern sky. Both were observing the star patterns while their bodies were kept illuminated by the still-active fire.

"I guess I've always wondered something. When Umbreon found you in Mount Coronet, you were...alone. Don't you have any friends or family to travel with?"

Latias sniffled. Eventually, she shook her head softly. Her head rubbed against Dawn's leg, since her jean shorts didn't reach down far enough for Latias to lay on.

Dawn stroked the side of the actual Pokémon's face, lowering her own head so she could look at her. "I'm really sorry to hear that. I know it must be hard not being able to be with Pokémon like you, but you know that I'll always be your friend. You can come to me for anything, okay?"

Latias sat up. She quickly turned her head to look at Dawn and nodded. Afterwards, she leaned in and hugged her.

"Aw..." Dawn stroked her back. "It's not fair that you're alone. You're an awesome friend, Latias! Tell you what. You can track me and Umbreon down, wherever we are, and hang out with us anytime you want to, okay? No need for us to call you like some slave!"

Latias pulled her head back. Her expression was something of hope and confusion.

Dawn read it. "Of course I mean it! How about just us girls go shopping this weekend? Hopefully it'll end a little better than today's mall trip went..."

The dragon donned a look of confusion. After knowing Dawn had seen it, she laid back down on her lap and continued looking at the sky.

"Well, I was inside this store when some thug ran in to rob it. I knew it was dangerous, but I-"

Latias suddenly sat up. She looked around the area blankly, then turned around. She stared at the very edge of the forest, simultaneously rising to her feet.

"...Latias? What's wrong?" Dawn also got up and started watching the direction.

It wasn't even a moment until a certain figure revealed himself. "That took long enough," he moaned to himself. He straightened up and turned to the girls. Though they both appeared human, he knew that couldn't be right. "I know that one of you is a Latias. Which one is it?"

Dawn rubbed her eyes. "...Silver? It's Silver, right? What do you care where Latias is?"

He walked up to her. As back in Sinnoh, he towered above her, inches apart from each other. "Was that a rhetorical question, or are you as dense as the Pikachu guy? Latias are rare. Rare means _money_."

Dawn turned her head to Latias. The Pokémon gulped. She shifted her head back to Silver, then lifted her arm up to protect Latias. "No. Latias isn't some money-making tool for you to milk! She's my friend, and you're not hurting her. Not before you get by me."

He twisted his wrist around a bit. Dawn's eyes caught the reflection of a piece of steel. "You say that like it's something hard to do." Without any such thing as a warning, Silver lifted his hand up. Reaching forward, he gave Dawn an incredibly sharp slash straight down the only arm she had that could feel anything. From her shoulder all the way down to her wrist was a critically burning slice.

Her groan, along with the tears that she refused to let fall, were signs of the pain she was in. Still, her arm stayed hovering in front of Latias. Though there was an intense sting, not much blood was dripping; despite what it felt like, it was nothing more than a semi-rough scratch.

"This is how good of a mood I really am in tonight. If it was one night ago, you'd be dead already, I assure you. Now, are you going to step out of my way, or do I have to finish the job?"

Dawn jerked her head to him. She couldn't fend her tears off anymore. "No! Don't you get it? I don't care if you kill me, you'll never get Latias! Latias, run!"

No movement was made.

"Latias, please, run!" Dawn cried. "He doesn't care about you! He just wants the money that-"

"That's plenty from you." Silver made a swift stabbing motion into Dawn's stomach.

However, she barely felt a poke.

"Ungh...!" Silver, biting his lip, growled.

Latias had grabbed Silver's wrist. With his hand restrained, he never managed to fully stab Dawn. The human-dragon continued holding him off with a shocking amount of force, considering the strength was coming from an eight-year-old girl.

Silver attempted to pull away. That didn't even work; it was now Latias's turn. She made one quick, simple motion to twist his hand forcefully to the side.

The knife dropped onto the sand below. Silver stumbled back a few steps, holding his wrist, wincing in pain. After taking a moment to recover, he shot a demonic leer at the superhuman strength bearer. "You dislocated my wrist, you little bi..." He trailed off which led to an audible roar. "Fine! Defend your worthless friend! I can't believe I wasted my time doing this." Grabbing a Pokéball with his only remaining usable hand, Silver shot it at the ground. Out of it came a majestic Dragonite. He climbed up the legendary, orange-colored beast, and it took off.

Before Silver disappeared from sight, Dawn managed to see that he was still cringing in pain. It made her smile, despite the fact that she couldn't say much about it herself. Instead, she instantly turned around and hugged Latias. "Latias, you saved my life! Thank you so much!"

"SILVER!" was yelled out from Dawn's back. By the time she turned around from Latias's embrace, the only thing she saw was Key flying away after the red-head. She didn't have enough time to make out the Pokémon she was using.

Dawn forgot about it and turned back to her new best friend. "I can't believe you stood up for me. Thank you so much!" she repeated. "I know it had to be frightening, suddenly getting targeted by him and that, but..." Her sentence drifted away when even more pain surged through her body.

Latias was gently rubbing a small area of Dawn's newest injury.

Once more, she refused to let the tears get the best of her. "...What...are you doing? Oh, wait! Can you heal it?"

Latias slowly pulled away. She shook her head, then dropped it low on her neck. Her shoulders began jumping up and down.

Dawn pulled her in close a second time. "No, no, don't cry, Latias! Don't cry! It...barely hurts." That was a hefty lie, but she wasn't intending to let the Pokémon know that. Her voice was kept strong as she continued. "It'll heal on its own. Unlike what would have happened if you didn't help me. Thank you so much, Latia-"

"Dawn?"

The final voice made the girl turn back around. She tilted her eyebrows. "Come back to yell at Latias some more?"

Dusk's hopeful smile dropped. "Merry Christmas to you too, Santa."

She faced Latias again and dusted off the girl's clothes, in spite of that not being very necessary. "Latias and I have bonded a lot since you took off. I'd appreciate it if you gave her an apology."

Wizard had never woken up since Dusk had found him. So that he might have a more peaceful rest, the Trainer walked over to the lakeside campfire and set the electric mouse close to it. "This night didn't turn out any different than I wanted it to. I got Wizard back and that Silver's nowhere in sight." His eyes kept themselves on the luring flames as he got to the climax of his speech. "But...That isn't to say I'm proud of everything I've done tonight. Latias, yelling so harshly at you is one of those things. I'm sorry for it."

Though she wasn't able to do anything more than nod her head, Latias could only think about how little an apology was necessary. In her eyes, Umbreon was a savior, and it would take more than a few abusive commands to change that.

Dawn's eyes lowered to the ground for a moment. Her greeting hadn't been very welcoming, but that didn't mean she felt like apologizing for it. A convenient shift in the topic would do just as much good, she figured. "So...You found Wizard, huh?"

"Yeah...Bandana and all." Dusk smirked to himself as he rubbed the rodent's own personal cloth.

Latias chose to hug herself and turn in a different direction. The opportunity was unmistakable for Dawn to abandon the dragon in favor of talking with her boyfriend. She neared him and sat down on the sand so she could rub Wizard's warm fur. "Umbreon, what happened?"

His girl maintained broken eye-contact. He tried looking into her eyes, but she stayed firm on Wizard.

"I'll admit that I got a little...scared when Wizard was first stolen. You went from talking about our dinner date to spilling blood. A part of me was almost waiting to be threatened by you when I wanted to go get Ionu..."

Dusk didn't answer right away. He took his time, wanting to ensure that his words were said correctly. "Wizard reminds me a lot of you."

It took until now, but Dawn was finally brave enough to chance a look into Dusk's eyes with a steady smile. "I'd look too weird with blond hair."

He couldn't stop an unashamed chuckle as he connected the joke together. "Imagine Wizard with blue fur."

"Can't un-see that," Dawn stated, breaking into a gentle laugh.

"...You're the one that gave me him," was the serious continuation of the last subject. "It's hard for me not to think of that smile on your face as you told me you wanted me to have him. On top of me being genuinely pissed off about another one of my Pokémon being stolen, losing Wizard would mean that I'd lose that memory, too. I'm not willing to give that up."

Dawn's soul was given an amazing feeling of warmness upon hearing those words. They made her feel like she was truly half of Dusk's own life, which in turn sent a good deal of blood rushing to her cheeks. "Oh, wow..."

Dusk looked up to his friend. When he spotted her blushing, he smiled and said nothing.

"Look at us..." Dawn said quietly. "Like, a day later, and we're on another adventure. I miss them..."

"Them?" Dusk echoed. He was pretty sure he was aware of who she was talking about, but wanted to ask anyway.

"Brendan and May," she answered as predicted. "If nothing else, Brendan would have the supplies to help this..." She lifted her arm up to the fire and slightly tilted it in Dusk's direction. He was left able to see the long cut in her skin. However, the girl still smiled as she got around to finishing her sentence. "...while May overreacted."

Umbreon softly grabbed the underside of Dawn's arm. "Does that hurt?"

This time, Dawn chose not to answer before the right words came to her. The result was only a moment's wait, though it seemed longer than that to the female Trainer. "I miss those two more than this hurts...how about that?"

Overhearing that her friend was in emotional pain, Latias raced back over to the campfire. She got on her knees and nuzzled her head affectionately against Dawn's neck.

Dawn gave an appreciated, though tired smile. Without thinking much about the gesture, she gave the dragon a petite peck on the top of her head. "Thanks, Latias...I think we all should get some sleep now."

"Needless to say by now, we left Sinnoh in a bit of a hurry, so I didn't have much time to pack stuff," Dusk told her.

As those two mingled with one another, Latias couldn't stop her face from turning red. She'd never had human lips touch her like that before, even if it was for hardly a moment. She stayed in that confused daze until a somewhat-worried Dawn beckoned her to lay down near them.

Wizard, Dusk, Dawn, then Latias were all sprawled out on the sandy beach. They fell asleep in that order as well; though Dusk had no worries in the world, Dawn needed to use discipline to ignore the burning pain in her arm. Even after she went out, Latias was still awake. Her back was turned to the rest of the group and her mind was racing from the earlier contact with Dawn.

Finally, unconsciousness claimed its last victim, forcing even the emotionally winded Latias into much-needed sleep.


	4. All Roads Lead to Hoenn

Dusk's eyes slowly blinked open. The sun was scarcely in sight; it couldn't even be 06:00 yet. He turned to one side to see the fire gone, but Wizard still sleeping comfortably. He was worried that the mouse had been out cold for an incredibly long time now, but he told himself that he'd give his friend a few more hours. The other side proved to be more active.

Sitting on the sand with her head turned away, Dawn was quiet, but quite conscious. Dusk noticed that the reason her head was shifted away from him was likely Latias, who was a decent distance away. She had stayed in her human form and was using her convenient arms to hold a seashell up to her ear. The boy heard a pained, tired, but overall genuine giggle come from the young lady next to him.

"So what was worse?" Dusk started sleepily, nipping at Dawn's attention for a moment. "Sleeping on the sand, or on one of the beds at the Pokémon Center?"

Though she gave him an unnoticed smile, she changed her gaze so it was set back on Latias. "Tough call..."

Umbreon pushed himself into a sitting position. He wasn't commonly so alarmed this early in the morning, causing his voice to have an unlikely mix of seriousness and grogginess. "You sound exhausted."

Dawn carefully remained outside eye contact. She lifted her shoulders for a shrug, but they fell back down almost immediately. "It's just the arm that Silver got to. It didn't want me to get as much sleep as I personally wanted to. But, I'll be fine."

"I don't-"

"Umbreon, I still got a few hours of sleep," she stated, turning once more to look at him. Her voice was kept soft, dismissing the possibility that she had gotten mad about the subject. "That's a few hours more than I've had a number of times in my life. Trust me, I've learned to deal with it."

He had no defense. Recalling all of the stories about her that he knew, he couldn't find himself countering that specific point. Instead, he decided to bring up a new topic entirely. "I don't think I ever got around to telling you something last night."

"What is it?" she inquired, not intending to allow him to beat around the bush.

"I assumed last night that we would just head back to Sinnoh when we got Wizard back." The beginning of the tale was already intriguing to Dawn. He knew that her focus was completely on him as he continued. "When we were trying to catch up to Silver, though, Key mentioned that...Dawn, we're not far from Hoenn."

Damia's lack of sufficient rest was already keeping her on the non-talkative side of things, but the last six words seemed to silence her completely. She brought her legs up from resting on the sand and buried her eyes in her knees.

Dusk was aware when somebody wasn't completely sold on a suggestion he had given them; thus, he pitched it harder. "Honestly, we won't need to go any deeper than a single town. Any Pokémon Center we find should be able to help your arm, and I don't know about you, but I'm reminded pretty often that we never got around to dinner last night."

The woman stumbled to her feet. That particular action didn't mean much for Dusk, but when she continued denying him from looking into her eyes, he could predict the words that followed. "I'm...sorry, Umbreon. I know I've only had her for a couple days, but I already miss Ionu like burning. It's already on my conscience that I abandoned the Pokémon that my best friend trusted to me, and going to Hoenn might just...make it worse."

"Of all people, you're worried about _May_ being mad at you?" Dusk hastily shot back.

Whether it was supposed to be a defensive outburst or not, Dawn laughed at the comment. "All right, you got me there. Still...I-I don't know. Could you give me a little while to think about it?"

Umbreon figured it was about time he rose to his feet as well. His posture remained strong, despite being awake for only minutes now. "Can't say I'm going far."

Dawn chuckled to herself before beginning a walk towards Latias. The slow rate of her steps proved that, no matter how hard she wanted to deny it, her disturbed slumber had taken its toll on her awareness. While she was staggering away, Dusk leaned over to get a hold of Wizard. "...We need something that's going to wake you up," he decided after a moment of staring into the mouse's closed eyes.

-**OAM**-

Latias gasped as two arms unexpectedly wrapped around her. Her first instinct was to remove the tangling ligaments, but as she was about to physically strike them, she noticed whose they were.

"Good morning, Latias!" Dawn exclaimed with a touch of enthusiasm, oblivious to the near-pounding. "Did you get enough sleep?"

Latias's heart rate increased. As she heard Dawn's voice, all she could think about was that meaningless kiss. Forcing the thought away, she shakily nodded her head.

Having been buried in the dragon's back, Dawn finally peeked over her shoulder. "What have you been doing over-oh!"

Using nothing but her index finger, Latias had made a drawing in the sand that actually resembled ancient hieroglyphics. Instead of creating sentences, however, there were just two pictures: a Latias, and a Latios. Considering she was working with sand, the detail she had managed to create was incredible.

"That's so cute..." Dawn noted, still attached tightly to her mute friend. Having a lively, if not one-sided conversation was proving to assist with her tiredness. "Is that your Prince Charming?"

Latias paused, then quickly shook her head.

"Oh, um...Is that a Latios you know, then?"

Instead of side to side, her head craned up and down. She got down on her knees, breaking Dawn's hold on her, and continued the drawing.

It wasn't hard to tell she was rushing so she could get the story to her friend quickly. Close to the Latios, she drew four stick figure humans. Afterwards, she drew a circle around Latios, then attached it to one of the stick figure's arms, almost like an odd quote bubble.

Dawn eventually came to the realization of what it was supposed to be. Her tone fittingly quieted. "Oh...Did Latios...get taken away from you?"

Latias solemnly nodded her head. No certain emotion was very strong on her face.

Having once been broken, Dawn touched the ground with a knee and reinitiated the grip around Latias' mid-section. "I'm so sorry, Latias...I know what it's like to have someone you love get taken away from you right in front of your eyes. It really hurts, but you're doing an awesome job of recovering from it. Time will heal all wounds, eventually. Hey, uhm..." Dawn pulled out of the one-sided hug and set a hand on her friend's shoulder, urging her to face her. "Latias, I'm sorry if I'm talking about something that upsets you, but...If you feel that there's hope, I'll devote everything I can into helping you get Latios back, oka-"

Dawn couldn't even finish her sentence before getting hugged even tighter than she had been hugging; having non-numb and uninjured arms allowed Latias to do that. She nuzzled into Dawn's chest.

She closed her eyes and rubbed the legendary Pokémon in-disguise on her back. "Do you want to talk about it more right now?"

Latias broke away and nodded her head. She squatted down to her masterpiece and began drawing even more, though they were just small details like the sun and mountains.

"How long has it been since you've seen Latios?"

Latias lifted an open hand up. She began counting her fingers, one by one. When she counted five, she showed her hand to Dawn.

"Five? Five years?"

She nodded.

Even when she was wide awake, Dawn never thought it would be so easy to receive answers from somebody not allowed to say a word. Her inner curiosity only went on to continue destroying the remnants of exhaustion. "How old are you?"

Once more, she had to count out five; it wasn't enough, however, so she moved to another hand. This seemed to cause her confusion, as it took her longer to answer. Thinking the circumstances were overpoweringly cute, Dawn couldn't help a reserved smile. Finally, she showed Dawn two hands, one wide open, the other one with the index finger raised.

"...Six?" Dawn blinked. "You're...only six years old?"

Latias joyfully nodded, then returned to her painting. She sat down in the sand to get a little closer to the artwork.

Despite her eyes watching the Pokémon interact with the grain, her focus was elsewhere. "_She's so young..._" was all she could think. Once she realized she was dwelling on the thought for too long, she shook her head. "A-anyway, where were you five years ago? When Latios was taken away?"

She shifted her position and silently pointed in the last direction Dawn really wanted her to.

"North..." She sighed. "...Hoenn."

Latias recognized the name and immediately nodded her head.

Dawn took a seat next to her, though she made sure not to destroy any of the sand drawing. "Umbreon wants to go to Hoenn, too..."

Like a tripwire being activated, Latias jerked her head to Dawn. Her expression showed little emotion, though there was little but ecstasy inside.

Dawn formed a defeated grin. "Guess you want to go back too, huh?"

An eccentric nod.

"I didn't tell Umbreon this, but I really want to go to Hoenn too...I'd do anything to see two of my old friends. But when Umbreon called you yesterday, we had to leave in a hurry, as you know, and I was sorta forced to leave a really close friend behind..."

Latias pointed south. Sinnoh. A sad but understanding smile made her face a bittersweet thing to look at.

Dawn smiled back at her for a moment, then shook her head. "What can I say? I literally just promised you that I'd help you at least try to get Latios back, and I'm going to. I don't break promises to anyone, and especially not to you. Really, I can just call Ionu from there, and she'll understand." There was a smirk as Dawn's mind drifted off to the Torchic's personality. "She'll probably throw a temper tantrum, but she'll understand," she finished light-heartedly.

Latias jumped to her feet. She tugged at Dawn's cut arm, not knowing any better that it would cause pain.

It was felt, but no word was said about the hurt. "You want to leave right now? Are you sure? Are you rested enough?"

Latias nodded her head thrice, either to add extra effect, or to answer all three of her questions.

Dawn forced a smile. "...Well, all right. Let's go tell Umbreon-" She turned her head to look in the direction she had left him in. Nothing but the pile of burned sticks remained. "On second thought, we might need to find him first."

-**OAM**-

"Congratulations, Wizard. You officially broke my sleeping record."

The mouse's eyes slowly opened. Nothing short of utterly confused, and maybe just a little bit weak, he looked around his surroundings to see where he was. The only thing he saw was a dense jungle without any sign of his Co-Trainer.

"Truth be told, I don't feel like running through everything right now. Here's just a few key things you might need to know. It's about twelve hours from the last time you remember. We're on an island more than half way to Hoenn. Ionu is still back in Sinnoh. Finally, I'm pretty close to starving to death. Besides that, you should be able to wing most of it yourself."

"Pikachu."

"Here. We came across a few trees, so I picked some Berries for you. Don't know if they're poisonous to humans or not, and I don't intend to be the one to test it." Dusk raised Wizard up to his shoulder, then handed him some blue-colored Berries that were in the opposite hand. "You're lucky. I'm starving, so you better enjoy them."

"Pikachu..." Wizard happily began nibbling on one of them.

"...Bun?"

The mouse's sensitive ears twitched. Umbreon, however, continued unaffected by the almost soundless cry. "Can't believe we're so close to Hoenn...I suppose I can't blame Dawn for wanting to go back to Sinnoh, but a short detour wouldn't kill her. Wonder where Brendan and May are."

"Pika, Pikachu!" he cheerfully yelped, still contently nibbling on a Berry. "Ka Pikachu pi, ka."

"You know where they are?" he asked with a slight hint of doubt. "They seriously told an electric mouse where they live before they told us," was stated, though it was meant to be a question.

Wizard shrugged. He would have responded, but his mouth was occupied with the berry.

There was silence; there wasn't much more about the topic that needed talking about. As the Pikachu continued dining on his feast, Dusk realized that not talking only made his empty stomach more noticeable.

"Hey, Wizard, tell me if you think this is a bad fan fiction or not. There's this girl, right? And she has, like, seventeen-"

"BUN, BUNEARY!"

Out of the area just a little southwest from nowhere, a brown missile kicked Umbreon dead in the center of his spine. He was sent flying forward almost seven feet, by the time he finished rolling on the ground. Wizard obviously couldn't keep his balance under the circumstances, and had crashed into the ground right at the site of the impact. The Berry he was eating splattered on the dirty grass next to him. He instantly hopped up to his feet, balled his hands into fists, and prepared to scold something fierce for his meal being ruined. And nearly killing his Trainer, too. But the meal was what came to mind first. The target, however, threw him off guard, and no words escaped his mouth.

The creature was obviously doing everything she could to avoid looking into Wizard's eyes. She rubbed her foot on the ground. "...Buneary, bun..." she whispered shyly.

"...Pikachu?"

"Buuuneary, Buneary bun. Buneary...?"

Wizard put his hand behind his head and chuckled. "Pika, Pikachu."

The rabbit instantly jerked her entire body toward him. Any amount of bashfulness was instantly dispelled. "BUNEARY?"

He gulped. "...Pika."

Dusk, agony now circulating through-out his body, gradually recovered. Groaning, he turned his head upwards to see what had nailed him, but instantly fell silent upon seeing the seemingly-innocent criminal. He began paying attention to the conversation, though he could obviously only understand things from Wizard's point of view.

She began pounding her foot into the ground constantly. "Bun eary! Bun eary! Bun eary! Bun eary!"

Sparks began voluntarily discharging from Wizard's cheeks. "Pika, Pikachu pika pi! Chu, Pikachu chaa!

"_A fool will mock Ionu in front of Wizard,_" Dusk mentally noted, providing the commentary for himself. He was still laying on the ground, just with his arms propping his head up. He was actually as comfortable as one could be laying on the dirt.

"Neary." She stuck her tongue out at Wizard. Disinterested now, she turned and walked away.

"Pika...Pikachu..."

Dusk chuckled to himself. He began getting to his feet. "Well, Wizard, I'd say that-"

"PIKA!" Minus that warning, Wizard completely blind-sided the Buneary. He lunged at her, pinning her to the ground.

Wizard was on top. All four of his paws were on the ground inches away from Buneary's own ligaments. She was stuck to the floor and had no way of escaping. Wilder sparks started blowing out as Wizard tilted his head upwards. He stared Buneary down his nose. Even his sub-conscious mind wondered if she saw the devil in his eyes, since she seemed to be quite appalled over this. The thought didn't stop him for long, though. "Pika. Pikachu pika, chu pi, Pikachu. Ka?"

She nervously nodded her head. "...Bun..."

Dusk bolted onto the scene. He immediately got Wizard off of Buneary and kept a firm grip on him. "Okay then! Isn't this educational for youth everywhere? Wizard...Guys, c'mon, can we call a truce?"

Buneary got to her feet and hopped down the unpaved trail farther. Shortly before Dusk released his breath of relief, she turned her head to the duo, once again stuck her tongue out, and spanked herself. "Buneary, bun!"

Wizard's teeth showed. He instantly broke out of his Trainer's hold and darted towards the instigator faster than he'd ever ran before.

Dusk sighed and slowly followed. As he stashed his hands into his pockets, his thoughts drifted to how badly he'd been tricked regarding the sereneness of the Pokémon world. If it wasn't extremist terrorist groups, it was, apparently, jealous rabbits.

His disinterested pace made him late for the party, even though he didn't care. He knew he couldn't do anything to stop these two from going at it anymore, so there wasn't a point in bothering.

Wizard had Buneary handcuffed once again. This time, the intimidation tactic didn't seem to work as well. Smirking shamelessly, she brought her feet up and kicked Wizard clean off of her. He went flying through the air, eventually landing painfully back on the grass. He quickly rolled over and got back on all fours.

So he did slightly underestimate her; that wasn't going to change much. Wizard charged at her with a Quick Attack, but purposely didn't connect it. Instead, he leapt over her head. By the time she turned around, Buneary found herself in a complete circle of Wizard clones. She didn't have a second to react, as all the Pikachu Skull Bashed into her at once. Of course, only the real Wizard's attack had any effect, so she was sent flying northwestward. The clones dispersed, and Wizard got down on all fours again.

"Neary, Buneary..." she granted. Though she hit a tree, hardly any damage was inflicted by it. Instead, she kicked off of it and used the momentum to reverse direction and fly towards Wizard, still in the air. Deciding to see how his own trick worked on him, the fur-covered foot that was threatening a dangerous kick was knowingly unreleased. She landed on the ground inches behind Wizard and immediately mule-kicked him into the same tree. While he was sliding down the rough bark, Buneary took the opportunity to leap an amazing distance into the air. However, it was a straight vertical rise; she was making no movements toward Wizard whatsoever.

Dusk was leaning on a tree, not too far off in the distance. With his arms folded, he was watching the scene in quite a bit of amusement. He couldn't blame Wizard for wanting to set the Buneary straight, but it was still humorously ironic how she was giving him quite a run for his money.

Buneary was finally coming back into view. It was seconds until she crashed when something rather unexpected happened. She landed in the same exact spot she had jumped from, but a series of rocks and clods of dirt rose out of the ground in a completely unnatural way, directly straight ahead from where she was standing. The massive attack didn't stop until it hit Wizard, who was sent flying into the air at an incredible rate of speed.

Dusk's mind followed the mouse up. His arms broke apart. He stared at the still-smirking Buneary in a state of absolute shock. Though he whipped his Pokédex out to confirm it, he was already mostly positive of the answer. "_Was that...Earthquake?_"

Just as predicted, the machine built for the sole purpose of accurate details about Pokémon failed to list Earthquake as a move that this particular Normal-type should know.

Wizard came tumbling back down, not quite as safely as Buneary had. He face planted into the ground, but still refused to give up. He pushed as hard as he could against Mother Nature's floor until he was back up on all of his paws. He shot Buneary with a weak glare. "Pika...Pikachu, pika Pika pi!"

She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "...Buneary?"

"Ka, Pika..."

Buneary lazily shook her head. "Buneary."

"PIKACHU!"

Without even giving himself a proper warning, an intense bolt of electricity broke out of Wizard's cheeks. The target was the unprepared bunny. Even though the attack was quick, it was unnaturally powerful. She fell to her knees, then bowed before Wizard completely.

The mouse frowned. That attack had actually been accidental; he didn't mean to hit her with that much voltage. He took two steps forward to make sure she was okay, but stopped when a red- and white-colored sphere went whirring past him. He jerked his head around to see his Trainer walking towards him.

When he reached the battlefield, Dusk picked up the successfully-used item and looked at it. "Wizard...That's quite a girlfriend you managed to find."

"Pika, pik-" He froze. "...PIKACHU! Pika pi Pikachu!"

"Hey, it's better to be a player than to be played. Let's get back to Dawn." Knowing she was too tired to do anything, Dusk set his new partner's Pokéball in its rightful place- right next to Moonite's. "I'm still hungry."

Wizard looked back down the trail. The poor blue Berry juice could still be seen splattered on the ground. He sighed. "...Pika."

-**OAM**-

Dawn and Latias had looked around the beach for only five minutes. When they finally decided that Umbreon must have wandered into the forest, they decided to just wait for him; going in after him might only make the situation worse, and that aside, Dawn would have to protect her sensitive arm from every tiny twig and insect.

Thinking about that very thing, Dawn sighed. "I really need to get my arm wrapped..." she explained to Latias while walking along the shoreline. "I don't want it to get infected or something. Besides, it hurts just getting a bit of wind into it..." She waved it around mindlessly for a moment. "That Silver jerk...I'd be doing just fine if it wasn't for him..." She tilted her head upwards and sniffled. "_...Mama would kill me if she knew I kept an open sore vulnerable for so long like this__._"

Latias sunk her own head.

"Oh, Latias..." Dawn gave a thoughtful frown. "I really want you to stop blaming yourself for me getting injured. You doing that's starting to make _me_ feel pretty bad! I'm so thankful for the way last night turned out. Latias, I could have died, but because of you, I didn't."

Latias jerked her head to Dawn and shook her head. Gently, she put her hands on Dawn's injured arm.

It made the girl's head turn toward it. Even when she translated the unspoken message, her gaze didn't waver away from it. "Y-yeah, I know I got injured there...But if I had to pick between the injury Silver gave me, and the one he almost gave me, I would go with this one!"

Latias closed her eyes and shook her head. Those forced, peppy words didn't mean much to her, but she had no way to speak counterpoints.

An unexpected interruption came in the form of a plot of fur suddenly rubbing itself against Dawn's leg. She was startled greatly at first, but all it took was a quick spin of her head and a look down to replace that with a beaming expression. "Wizard!"

Dawn was about to bend down to get a hold of the creature, but her six-year-old friend beat her to it. She raced around, picked Wizard up into her arms, and gave him an affectionate, if not tight squeeze.

Both Wizard and his Co-Trainer shared equal surprise in the girl's interest in the rodent. After a few sniffs to confirm her scent, however, the Electric-type recognized it from somewhere. That was plenty good enough for him, and he dove in to return the hug with a perky, "Piika!"

Dawn reached her arm out to scrub the backside of Wizard's head. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her human companion approaching, but still addressed the mouse first. "I hope you enjoyed your nap."

"Chuuu..." was the muttered reply.

"Never a dull day anymore," Dusk said matter-of-factly, taking a break from walking now that he was well within earshot.

Dawn looked up to him with a smirk. "You keep Wizard around, and you want a dull day? Have fun with that one."

Any sign of finding humor in the non-offensive sarcasm was quickly dropped and replaced by a pensive stare at the body of water. "So. Is it back to Sinnoh, then?"

In spite of a part of her knowing she shouldn't, Dawn showed reluctance with a sigh. The act drove caution into Latias, who was aware of what Dawn had promised. Nonetheless, she hesitantly answered, "N-nah. I've been thinking about it, and it does make sense to go to Hoenn for now. We could really use some supplies."

This time, Dusk and Latias shared a glance with each other. Neither one said a word.

"If we're going, we shouldn't wait too long, though. Are you ready, Latias?"

The dragon glanced at Dusk one more time before showing off her true form. With a youthful cry, the mythical dragon lowered herself close to the ground. Any who wanted to take their only ride off of this island was to board now.

Umbreon was quietly staring at Dawn's cut-up ligament. She'd noticed the intruding watch, but unsuccessfully tried to keep her mind off of it by hopping on top of Latias.

"That arm is going to drive you insane while we're flying."

"Tell me something I don't know..." she stated lowly, not proud of the fear that was in her voice. "If I hide it behind you, maybe it won't hurt as much."

Hardly being intelligent in a department like this, Dusk thought the plan sounded reasonable enough. He grabbed hold of the proverbial reigns by hopping atop the Eon Pokémon in front of Dawn. Naturally, Wizard bounded for the space between the two. He was aware of how fast their living transport could fly; he also knew that unless he was surrounded on nearly every side, his tiny arms weren't going to do anything to keep him attached while going at those high speeds. Once surrounded by both of his masters, he felt much more confident.

Almost like a train blaring its horn before departing, so did Latias screech before takeoff. Overflowing with motivation, she lifted herself up until they could look down and see the top of the trees. Accomplishing that swiftly, she likewise wasted no time firing off like a missile northbound. The extra weight of two humans and a Pikachu didn't have any effect on her mood; she commonly weaved side to side for no other reason than her own amusement.

The trip failed to be called "fun" by everyone onboard. Virtually looking right at her, Wizard could see Dawn's face as she tried hiding her injured arm inside of Dusk's vest.

The effort was doing almost nothing. Breaking the airborne speed limit caused unpreventable wind to somehow constantly find her arm. They were only a few seconds into the ride, and tears were almost the only thing that Wizard saw on Dawn's face. The pain of the barraging wind was too much, or so the Pokémon thought.

As he broke open his mouth in an attempt to scream, Dawn did nearly the opposite. Using her opposite hand, she lifted an index finger to her mouth, wordlessly silencing him. Seeing his Trainer in so much physical pain, but then being silenced to say a word about it, could only bring drops of water to Wizard's eyes as well.

Dawn's solution was to prevent him from seeing her at all. Her numb arm reached around and gave him a one-arm hug.

With his head pushed right up against her body, Wizard could no longer witness Dawn in pain. That didn't necessarily make things right, but as far as Dawn was concerned, it made things better for the moment. All she was left to be thankful for was that the hurricane-like wind prevented either Trainer from needing to hear their Pikachu's rare, but often serious crying.


	5. Gathering of Friends

The uncomfortable journey was finally coming to an end; they spotted a huge land mass floating in the sea just short of three hours after taking off from that island. An excited Latias picked up even more speed until they reached it. Perhaps so nobody could see the legendary Pokémon, Latias parked on the outskirts of a small village, landing at the very edge of a forest so dense it was nearly unable to be explored at all. After the two Trainers jumped off the ride, she hurriedly transformed back into a human.

When she looked toward her new best friend, she shared her surprise with Dusk. Tear stains were trailing down Dawn's face. The incredible wind they had suffered through on the ride here had dried the water itself swiftly, but the girl's face was red from crying so much, which didn't help her to hide anything.

"Dawn, what is it?" Dusk prodded, "Is it your arm?"

Wizard was on the grass. That's where his eyes were, too. He was the only one who knew what had happened, but was sworn to secrecy. He so badly wanted to break that oath, but his loyalty was too high for that.

"It's nothing!" she bit back, her voice having been effected by the tears more than she thought. "Umbreon, just...go get something to eat. We'll meet up somewhere."

The times weren't many when Dawn was plainly upset, but didn't want Dusk's company; however, it had happened enough for him to know that the best thing to do is take her word. When he gave a quick glance to Latias, he noticed the new form she had taken, but successfully stopped himself from reacting to it. He kept his response short: nothing. Wordlessly, he slipped off, an obedient mouse not far behind him.

Silence. That's all there was, since Latias wasn't able to inquire about Dawn's fit of anger. The moment of awkwardness passed when Dawn meekly, but still clearly muttered words.

"...I'm done with letting Umbreon see me in pain all the time..."

Of course, she got nothing as a response. Even if she was capable of responding, the Eon wasn't sure what she would say.

Her back had been turned away from Latias the entire time. However, when she was done meditating on her own sentence, she finally shifted around. "Thank you for flying us here, Lati-"

She abruptly halted when her eyes focused on the fake human. Latias had transformed into a mirror- Dawn's hair, her clothes, and even her height were no longer her own. Latias had stolen her appearance entirely, not excluding at all the pink cast that was on one arm and sliced skin running down the other. She was naturally beaming back without restraint.

"Latias..." Dawn stated in surprise.

Though it was just a single, innocent word, Latias didn't take it that way. On top of that surprise, she thought she had heard a touch of uneasiness in her voice.

"You're...Wow." She gave a gentle laugh, her mind being preoccupied from the pain for the time being. To observe just how good of a clone had been made of her, Dawn ran her feeling hand through her friend's hair. "I'm looking at you. But it's...me."

Latias's head lowered, but for just a moment. It rose back up, this time bearing the unwanted gift of a look of sadness. She wanted to express that she would find a different human form to take, in spite of her own wishes.

To her delight, the request was translated well enough to get a response. "No, I don't mind it! In fact, I'm already...sorta getting used to it. It could be a lot of fun having a t-"

The word "twin" was supposed to make it out of Dawn's lips. It wasn't allowed to, as a foreign object clamped itself over Dawn's mouth.

Latias's own.

The kiss was only so impromptu to one of them; Latias had been thinking about this moment since last night. The setting wasn't physically able to be any better, as far as she was concerned. Being concealed from everyone in Hoenn by the near-impassable trees directly after Dawn accepted the form the dragon had taken.

As for the human girl, it wasn't as easy to find positive aspects. Not only was she getting kissed by a girl who looked exactly like herself, the girl in question wasn't even technically human. Her mind forced her to give Latias the benefit of the doubt for four seconds, but as soon as the digital clock on her Pokétch read one second past that, she placed a hand on the Pokémon's collarbone and softly pushed her out of the lip embrace.

Though donning a look of light confusion, it was clear that Latias was pleased for as long as that had lasted. She didn't bother reasoning why Dawn had broken the kiss, choosing instead to start another embrace in the form of a hug.

It took Dawn a moment after being flanked to lightly pat Latias's back twice, then resting her most usable arm behind it. Her body was unwillingly shaking. "S-so...That was different, huh?"

No response.

"Latias, are you...comfortable kissing me like that?"

She pulled away from the hug only enough so the two could make eye-contact. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, leaving her disappointed when no sound came out.

Dawn showed a weak smile at her attempt. "I'm sorry, Latias. Maybe it's a dragon thing, but to me, that's just a little awkward."

The minority of Latias was crushed. The majority wasn't going to let Dawn see it. She jerked away, walking forward a few steps with her head bowed in shame.

"Latias!" Dawn cried out, lifting her hand up. She had only now realized that her words had come out too strong for any six-year-old to not take to heart. "You're still my best friend. You know that, don't you?"

The mimic of Dawn's head turned in interest.

When her friend walked over to her, Latias's body turned to face her. There was a smile on her face, quite confident that she was able to cure the problem. "I'll make this easy for the both of us."

With that, she leaned forward to kiss Latias again. Unlike their last one, this one remained far less romantic; a peck that lasted no longer than last night's one was planted on the human-dragon's neck.

"I don't mind at all when we do that...do you?"

Latias eagerly shook her head, and for the first time, blue hair flew around almost uncontrollably as she did it. She seemed frazzled by the long strands of hair that this form had, leading Dawn to inevitably laugh as she hugged Latias one more time.

"You'll get used to that. Now, why don't we get out of this forest and figure out where we're going?"

The mute, if not excitable girl bounded back and gave an ecstatic nod of her head. Without needing to be commanded at all, she happily followed Dawn out of the rough brush and into the sight of an unfamiliar town.

They didn't get far. Shortly after stepping outside the woods, Dawn stopped to glance around the town. It was similar in many ways to Twinleaf, welcoming atmosphere and boredom abound included. "All right," she began. "The first thing we need to do is find a place that will wrap my arm with something. If Hoenn's anything like Sinnoh, then a Pokémon Center will do it for me. Now we just have to find one of them..." She turned her head from side to side, looking all over the small-sized town. To her joy and surprise, she quickly found a building with a large, red 'P' over it. Just to make sure she was clear, she pointed at it. "Ah! Over there!"

The girls dashed over to it, after Latias figured out what Dawn was talking about. The older one continued running through the traditional doors, but Latias stayed outside for a moment longer. Her head turned up to the overhead 'P.' She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about it didn't seem right. Upon inspecting it from the ground for a moment, she quickly concluded that a small chunk of it had been ripped off, as if it had been a different letter entirely at some point.

However, she placed it out of her mind and chased her friend inside.

"Mm-hm-hm-hm! A very good afternoon to you both!" the woman on the other side of the counter giggled. She looked like a typical Nurse Joy, but her voice was much less warming, almost dangerous. Instead of a heavy shade of pink, her hair was unmistakably red. "How can I assist you today, mm?"

"Actually..." Dawn's head shifted over to her injured arm. "There was...an accident, and I was hoping you could wrap my arm up for me?"

"No," she stated sourly. "Why would I waste my time-" And she paused there for a moment, contemplating something. "Ahm...What I mean by that is...Of course!" she responded, now with an overly-cheerful smile. "Is there anything else?"

"Um...Yeah." Ignoring the odd outbreak the nurse had started with, Dawn dug through her handbag. Her hand came back out holding a Pokéball. "I never got a chance to heal Sunnite after that last battle. Would you do that for me, too?"

The doctor grinned. "Delighted." She greedily snatched the orb from Dawn's hand, turned around, and began stepping down the hallway slowly. Her high-heels made an annoying sound with every step she took. "Let me just go get some medical bandages for you."

"Thank you!" Not doing much else, Dawn looked around the PokéCenter that she felt like she'd been in a dozen times before. Everything was exactly the same as it was in Sinnoh. Wizard could have been sleeping in the chair, and nobody would know that they weren't in Oreburgh. "So, Latias, what do you want to do after this? Are you hungry?"

Latias didn't reply. Her eyes were on a door that was on the other side of the counter. Curious of it, she decided to investigate.

Dawn watched her blankly. When she realized that Latias was going behind the counter, she quickly bolted over and grabbed her sleeve. "Whoa, Latias!" She laughed. "Nobody's actually allowed behind the counter unless there's an emergency. What were you looking at, anyway?" Dawn turned her head to see nothing but a door.

Before Latias could physically answer, the nurse popped back in from the hallway. "Okay! Here's the bandages. Now let me see that cute arm of yours..."

Dawn, with Latias close behind, walked back over to the front of the counter. The much older woman took hold of Dawn's arm, lifted the stitched bandage up to the start of the injury, and began spinning it around her arm.

"Umm..." Dawn winced in pain. She moved her arm constantly, trying to shake the doctor off her. "That's...really tight..."

"Hold still, you little tw-" For the second time, the doctor cut herself off. And this time, Dawn didn't let it go without a glare. "I mean, sorry, but this is a very deep wound. If the bandage isn't on tight enough, it won't have any effect at all. Please stop squirming so I can apply this correctly, mm?"

Dawn wasn't as appreciative as she was expecting to be; this in turn made Latias wary of the person supposedly treating her friend. Both remained calm enough to not do anything long enough for the small procedure to be completed.

Immediately afterward, the doctor turned back around and walked down the hallway again. "I'll get right on to healing your Sun...thing!"

"I'll be back tonight..." Dawn muttered out. "Let's get out of here, Latias." She turned in the opposite direction of the nurse and bolted out of the building.

The moment that the doors shut behind them, Dawn began looking around for the end of the bandage with her opposite hand. "Oh...ow! C'mon, where is...ow!"

Latias took initiative. Quite a bit easier for her than Dawn, the dragon's naturally-cold fingers latched onto the start of the wrap. She began loosening the entire thing up and didn't stop until Dawn looked comfortable again.

"Oh, thank you so much, Latias..." She stretched her neck. "I have feeling in my arm again...That one, at least. Let's just get out of here!" Dawn took off. If they weren't going to do anything else at the moment, she figured they could try to find out where they actually were.

Latias, however, stood still a moment. She was looking blankly at the Center's doors. One thought was on her mind: If Dawn was treated like that, what about Sunnite? The curse of silence that plagued her entire species stopped her from sharing her concern about her newest friend's Pokémon. Obediently, she jogged away in Dawn's direction.

-**OAM**-

"Ka pi. Pikachu."

Wizard was on a booster seat, while Dusk was in a chair opposite of him across the red table. They were sitting next to a window of a generic fast-food restaurant, which just happened to be the first sign of food they had come across. Though the hamburgers and french fries that sat on a plate in front of either of them weren't the classiest or even close to the best-tasting they've had, the fact that it was food was enough for them to devour about half of their own portions.

"So. Here's a question I never put much thought into asking."

Intrigued, Wizard looked up from his lunch.

"This is at least the second time I've seen you eat...well, human food. I didn't know you could even stomach it, much less like it. Out of human and your food, which do you prefer?"

The Electric Pokémon devoted some time into coming up with a response. "Chuuu...Pika. Cha."

Dusk simply nodded, not finding the answer particularly surprising. His next action instead was to slather three fries with ketchup, though they didn't make it into his mouth yet.

His eyes managed to turn themselves to the TV that was stuck in an upper corner of the room. The screen was barely fifteen inches and coated in dust, making it rather inconvenient to see. Worse yet, the sound had been turned all the way down, leaving his only means of knowing what was going on to be the scrolling subtitles.

For him, it was worth the trouble. On the screen was the picture of himself that the Hoenn Trainers had somehow taken and given to the media before they left, along with the words "breaking news." As he continued reading the words that the newscaster was saying, he leaned ever closer towards the TV.

Wizard, noticing his Trainer's unusual attitude, followed his gaze to the TV. He watched it, even though he was enjoying his fried potato far too much to pay attention to it.

"_Following up on our earlier report,_" Dusk studied completely to himself, "_it's now been confirmed that Dusk, the hero that toppled over the world-renowned leader of evil syndicate Team Galactic, was indeed the man responsible for the death of three girls just hours ago. It is likewise believed that the unidentified person killed in Sinnoh has the same murderer. Police are investigating-_"

Umbreon stopped reading there. His eyes wide, he looked around the room for anyone who had potentially just seen that. It was to his great relief that there wasn't another soul in the room that had been paying attention to the muted television set.

With nothing but a short yelp of "Pika!" from his partner, Dusk stood up from his seat and stole Wizard from his meal. He bolted out of the diner, leaving both the remaining food and the bill behind.

-**OAM**-

Latias jumped up and down. Though her body was turned one way, her head was looking innocently at Dawn.

"Um...Latias? What is it?" Having had a small lead on her, Dawn turned around and jogged forwards. Latias's hands were laying gently on the glass window of a building. Dawn turned her head to above the doorway. "'Winding Down Instruments'?" she read the sign aloud. She shrugged it off and turned her attention to the window. "What do you see? Do you want something?"

Latias nodded, then pointed inside at a specific item.

Laying on a mint green cloth, which was laying on an old, wooden chest, was a nine-holed, wooden ocarina. Anyone with a solid eye for such things would deem the simple, yet intricate design legendary.

Once more, Latias rested her hopes in Dawn. She almost looked like she was going to start crying from anticipation alone.

Dawn openly stared at the object for awhile. That's what it looked like to Latias, anyway; in fact, it was the small slip of paper next to it with the price on it that she was cautiously watching, as if it was about to move . Getting set back 3,700 Poké was not how she hoped to start the day. Still, she reasoned that she really did owe Latias something, and it was becoming harder and harder to stand up to that face. Finally, she smiled at Latias, comforting her. "Of course I'll buy it for you. C'mon!" The two raced inside.

The shop was quaint. It was clearly a family-owned business. Small knick-knacks, with an assortment of doo-dads were all around the place. Dawn instantly turned to pick the requested item up, but Latias grabbed her by the sleeve and shook her head. She pointed at the front desk.

"Oh...right." Dawn lightly dashed over to the counter, sidestepping seemingly homemade guitars on her way over. Latias appeared on her side shortly after. Behind the counter was nothing but dead space. "Um...Service?" she cried out.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on!" came an arrogant voice from a side room. It was safe to assume it was the storeroom. "We all waited seven years for the sequel to Melee to come out, I think you can hold on a few seconds..."

Dawn growled. "Excuse me for wanting to give you my money!" she fired back.

"Ugh...!" the male voice shot through the door. "I swear to Mesprit, people these days are-" He came out of the storage room, drying his hands with a black rag for some reason. That, however, wasn't his, or Dawn's, concern. "D-Dawn?" he asked, forcing himself not to laugh quite yet.

Dawn gulped heavily. After a quick shiver, she forced a word out of her mouth. "...R-Roark," she replied, accidentally mimicking the stutter.

At the mere sound of his name, the Gym Leader and self-appointed old friend of Dawn's broke out into the previously-contained hysterical laughter. Tears were in his eyes by the time he was able to talk again. "Oh, fate's just way too weird sometimes. I mean, way, way too weird. C'mon, Dawn. Please? If you won't tell me how your life's been since Coronet, will you at least tell me why there's twice the blue hair?"

Roark was on the wrong end of a leer. It was hard to forgive him for everything he had done, but after his help in the Galactic battle, she knew she'd feel too guilty if she verbally tore into him. "If you have to know, her name is Latias, and she's my best friend! That's why she chooses to look like me." She paused, giving herself time to fold her arms. "Your turn."

"Ooh, my turn!" Roark said excitedly, "What game are we playing?"

"You're supposed to be _dead, _Roark. Just about everyone there watched you get blown off the mountaintop."

The Sinnoh Gym Leader leaned over. After awkwardly staring in silence at Dawn's face, he extended his arm and tapped her on the nose, much to her annoyance. "A good magician never reveals his secrets, eh?"

Her gaze turned from anger to curiosity. She wondered how Roark had saved himself, but was pulled from her thoughts when she was pulled on her sleeve.

When she moved her head, she found her own face looking back at her. Latias's expression continued to be yearning, reminding Dawn that there was an original reason they had visited this store.

"Oh, r-right. Could we get that flute in the window back there?"

"If the price is right!" Roark maneuvered around his own counter and strode over to the glass, singing to himself the whole way, "How much is that ocariiiina in the windoooww..."

More than anything else so far, Latias found this antic particularly enjoyable. She giggled at the song, which in turn made Dawn smile. Though he's proven to still be as annoying as ever, the fact that he worked in a safe shop lingered, and she wondered if perhaps he was actually reformed.

"Ah..." Roark sighed, stepping back onto the scene. He got behind the counter and lifted the wooden ocarina up to his own eye-level. "I have no idea how many people you had to whore to get the money for this thing, but let me be the one to tell you she won't steer you wrong. Transverse-style, alto...yep, yep. Awesome little toy. Anyway," Roark snapped back to his senses. He ran the separate price tag across the scanner, then got a small bag to put the item in. "that'll be..."

Moments passed. "...That'll be..."

More time elapsed. Finally, Roark gave the cash register a well-deserved solid smack. Though unprofessional, the method did serve its purpose and caused a string of numbers to appear on its digital screen. "3,820!"

Latias watched Dawn pull the necessary money out of her coin purse. Her blood was pumping when her human friend handed it to the rust-colored-hair boy behind the counter.

"Well, that's another two months of keeping the lights on," Roark noted out loud. He continued talking while simultaneously pulling out the necessary change. "So, you'll need to help me out here."

Dawn smirked. "Can't get the pickle jar open again?"

"Hilarious. A riot, as always." He coughed. "For your information, I need to be taught how to be a good guy. I mean, I'm already modest, so I got that part down, but do you guys have, like, bad-guy sensors built-in or something?"

A blue eyebrow was raised. "You? A good guy?"

Roark gave a nonchalant shrug. "Take it or leave it."

Dawn picked up the bag and cash from the counter. "...I'll have to get back to you on that one." She turned around and began walking away.

Latias followed her until they were both out the door.

Alone, Roark laughed. He reached down to the floor behind the counter to a portable cooler. He opened the top up, pulled a beer can out, and opened it. He lifted it high up in a toast. "Thanks, life. No, really." He took a long sip of it. "I needed someone to torment."

-**OAM**-

It was evening now, and as expected, the sun was beginning to hide behind the trees. The two girls were sitting comfortably on a hill, talking and laughing. Of course, the speech was one-sided, but neither let that bother them much. Latias had taken the bag and ocarina from Dawn, but hadn't played a single note on it yet. One epiphany later, Dawn suddenly remembered Sunnite. Determined to reach the building before nightfall, the two instantly dropped the small talk and bolted off.

Though they technically failed, Dawn and her twin did manage to find the PokéCenter by 20:10.

Dawn walked in, holding her aching ribs. "I suppose...at least we weren't getting chased by gigantic Pokémon this time," she panted out.

"Ah! Welcome! What can I do for you tonight?" the same nurse as before greeted.

Still gasping for breath, Dawn walked up to the counter. Her silent, sweaty friend soon stood by her side. She wasn't able to control her panting much, forcing breaks between her words. "Hi...I left...Sunnite here? A Luxio? Is she healed?"

"...Huh?" the woman responded blankly. "Not that I'm aware of. Are you sure you have the right PokéCenter?"

Dawn growled. "Forgive me, ma'am, but I'm...positive this is the place. You and I saw each other just a few hours ago. You wrapped my arm."

"Hm..." After a moment, she shook her head. "No bells. Sorry."

A fist was pounded into the glass counter. "Look, ma'am, I'd appreciate it if-"

The automated doors swung opened, cutting Dawn off. She looked back to see who it was, and her heart rate instantly tripled. "Oh, thank you, God, for Littleroot Town!" the battered woman shouted to no one, leaning on the empty doorframe. She finally opened her tired eyes and glanced around the room. Her eyes instantly locked onto one of the two sets of blue hair. She blinked twice, trying to convince herself that she was going insane. "D-Dawn?"

Dawn beamed. "MAY!"

"Dawn!" May shouted in reply. The old Team Missile member wasted no time running forth and squeezing her arms ever-tightly around the Dawn that had just talked. "Dawn, what are you doing here?"

Much like the Sinnoh one, the Hoenn protagonist had changed into some new clothing, though they seemed to be quite rattled. Her body was now covered with an orange and black shirt, though her tight shorts remained similar to her previous adventure's wear. Instead of boots, much more comfortable running sneakers were placed on her no-doubt aching feet instead. Green bracelets were on either wrist. A convenient waist bag replaced the hefty backpack of old. Covering her permanently-styled chocolate hair was a lime green bandana instead of a red one. The obvious accessory she wore would be Dawn's very own scarf.

"Oh, it's such a long story," Dawn mumbled out, enjoying the lost comfort of her friend. "May, this is Latias. You remember her, right?"

"No amnesia yet," she laughed. She broke the hug and turned to Latias, holding her hand out. "It's awesome to see you again, Latias!"

The Pokémon seemed nervous at first. She slowly accepted the offered handshake and bowed, though May stayed in her gaze the entire time.

"Oh!" Figuring it might be a Lati-tradition, May also took a quick bow. Afterwards, she turned around and hugged Dawn once again. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you safe..."

"You'll need to give me more time than that to hurt myself," Dawn noted with a smirk, pulling away from the second embrace.

Though not very fitting for the situation, May's mouth twisted into a frown. "I can't believe Umbreon did that..."

Dawn's eyebrows raised. "Huh?"

"Dawn," May set her hands on her friend's shoulders. "When I heard what happened, all I could think about was you. I was so terrified he started with you."

Dawn blinked. "May? Uhm...What are you talking about?"

May also seemed stunned, though for quite a different reason. "...What?"

"What are you talking about? What did Umbreon do? I haven't seen him since earlier this afternoon."

"Earlier...this afternoon..." May repeated to herself. Her arms fell back to her sides. "Dawn, you were with him today? Why?"

"I'm...going to assume I'm missing something," Dawn guessed.

"Dawn..." May brought her hand up to her own chest. "...You really don't know that Umbreon's killed four people?"

"What?" she instantly shouted back, leaning forward a bit.

The cry actually hurt May's ears, but she didn't say anything about it. "It's all over every news channel. He killed one person in Sinnoh yesterday, and three in Hoenn today. It was downright horrible." She paused for a moment before deciding to softly rub Dawn's shoulder. "If he really had done anything to you, I don't-"

The girl, however, lifted her own hand up and shoved the affectionate gesture away. She had little interest in letting the woman finish her sentence. "May, I was with Umbreon every minute of the day yesterday. He couldn't have killed anybody."

May did nothing. She barely even physically reacted, though after a moment, she finally turned her head over her shoulder to break away from Dawn's piqued stare. She was thinking, and Dawn's characteristic, but scary glare wasn't helping her to do it.

The younger girl gently eased, realizing that May didn't deserve to be yelled at. Still, she asked the only question that was on her mind. "I suppose media can be convincing, but...why would I lie to you?

May closed her eyes and inhaled. She opened them back up, and with help from Dawn's calmly-stated question, was able to smile understandingly. "Okay! You have a side to this. Let me give my Pokémon to the nurse, then we'll go into the cafeteria and get this straightened out, okay? Trust me, nothing would make me happier than to hear that Umbreon is innocent." May rubbed her friend's shoulder a second time as she passed by her on the way to the nurse.

"Hello!" the eavesdropping doctor greeted plainly.

"Hi! Sorry about all that..." May began searching through her bottomless waist bag for her Pokéballs. "So when did this Center get here? There wasn't one in Littleroot last time I was here."

"Oh, just a few weeks ago," she responded, never taking her eyes off May's fanny-pack. "How...How many Pokémon you got in there?"

May quickly jerked her head up. She shot two tilted eyebrows at the nurse. "...We'll find out in a minute, won't we?" she remarked with Brendan's sarcasm.

The nurse didn't say anything. Her polite smile wasn't even effected by the quip.

Finally, May pulled out two Pokéballs. She set them on the counter, still killing the nurse with a curious glare.

The nurse seemed a bit winded. "...Only two?"

"Oh, wait, I have one more," May read off a script. That's what her words sounded like, anyway. She reached back inside her holding compartment and pulled out another orb. This one, however, she set on the very edge of the counter nearest herself.

The nurse didn't question the possessiveness in the least. She made a grab for the remaining Pokéball, but right before she got a hold of it, May got a tight lock of her own on the woman's wrist.

Without even giving the paramedic time to react, May roughly pulled her towards herself. She instantly put her nose near the nurse's hair and sniffed it. "...I'd recognize that pungent shampoo anywhere! You're Jessie from Team Rocket, aren't you?"

The busted woman smirked. "Looks like our secret's out..."

On a cue that wasn't given, the same door Latias had floated to earlier was kicked open from the inside. Romantically holding a rose, a man with emerald-colored hair dashed out and got back-to-back with the nurse.

"Prepare for trouble, we're back to our old ways!" the nurse started.

"My hair's green, but that's okay!" the newcomer continued.

"To protect the world from boring nations..."

"To unite the practices of our sneaky foundations..."

"To denounce previous heroes who do nothing but hug!"

"To extend our bank accounts to the sky above!"

"Jessie!" she tossed her outfit into the air, revealing the predictable gray outfit she always wore back in Sinnoh.

"James!" He started to do the same, but then remembered that he was already in his regular clothes. He let out an embarrassed squeal, but didn't let it bother him much past that.

"Team Rocket's better than you in every light!"

"We don't care if they're your Pokémon, we'll still steal them with a fight!"

From somewhere on the ceiling, a feline fell down and crashed into the counter, landing successfully on his feet with his back turned. However, he shifted his waist around and raised a knife-sharp claw menacingly at the trio of females. "Meowth, 'dat's pretty freakin' right!"

Of course, by this time, May had taken the opportunity to snatch her three Pokéballs back. She growled at the newest member of Team Rocket. "What, you didn't get your tail fried quite enough times before, Meowth?"

"Heheh..." He polished his nail with one hand proudly. "'Ding's are different now, toots. We's been trainin' our tails off lately, and yer about two seconds away from findin' 'dat out 'da hard way!"

Dawn wasn't fazed by anything regarding Meowth, brushing aside May recognizing it and the fact that it just talked. She was a prisoner of her own thoughts until she involuntarily gulped, which sprung her back to reality. She voiced the only word that she could. "Sunnite..."

May's head jerked to Dawn, then went back to Team Rocket equipped with a snarl. "What did you do with Sunnite?"

Jessie laughed in a past-disturbing way. "If you intend to play hero for the kitty, I recommend you make it fast. Our friends should be here anytime to come pick it up."

"_Reinforcements...?_" the older one muttered in her mind. "_My Pokémon are all dead tired from training so hard...Who am I kidding? I'm more tired than they are. But running isn't an option if they have one of Dawn's Pokémon..._" May heaved a sigh.

Confidence came from a rather unlikely source. "That means that Sunnite's still here..." With that, the bluenette lifted a Pokéball at length with her neck. May was able to see just a bit of Dusk's determination; the girl standing next to her had a similar fire in her eyes. "And that means that I'm going to fight to get her back."

"...Yes!" May cheered. "You're absolutely right, Dawn!"

Before Team Rocket could successfully pull off another evil laugh, everyone was reminded that they had virtually forgotten about somebody. Light enveloped Latias; Nearly as quickly as it came, it broke off, and her true form was hovering in the air. Somewhat blushing, she turned to Dawn and shrieked.

Dawn silently wondered where the ocarina went. The bag had just vanished. In spite of science being questioned, she was more concerned with the bigger picture. "Latias? You'll...fight for me?"

She screeched once more before turning towards Team Rocket.

Unlike a usual group chortle, Jessie was the only one to give a simple, quiet giggle. "A three on three sounds fun. Remember, team, we have no reason to win. We just need to stall until our friends get here, then they won't stand a chance. We'll overpower them simply with numbers."

"Right!" the other two whispered in agreement.

The battle couldn't even officially get started. A suddenly-bold Latias picked up momentum from nowhere and rammed directly into Meowth.

The English-gifted cat was blown back into the hallway. Though that attack seemed death-dealing, Meowth almost swiftly hopped to his feet and raised another claw up. "'Dat's it! 'Dat boidie's my dinner!" He took multiple leaps forward, never stopping until he reached Latias. He began taking ferocious and unlimited Fury Swipes attempts at her.

Having not only the powers of flight, but the status of Legendary Pokémon hanging around her neck, Latias was able to dodge all of them nimbly, if not a close call sometimes.

May was staring wide-eyed at the pure offensive onslaught of attacks. "_...M-M-Meowth...H-He never fought before, now he's...How can he move that fast?_"

"Yoo hoo..."

Still showing more stun than she would have liked, May turned forward. An oddly-colored James was staring back at her confidently, spinning a Pokéball around his hand.

"The house is unlocked, but I don't think anybody's home. The rest of the players have been decided, so it's just me and you. I'm yours all night, baby..." he continued seductively.

The annoying remark made May forget about her intimidation. She growled. "You wish!"

"Ooh, a spicy girl. I'd hit that." He gripped his Pokéball tightly for a moment before launching it into the fray.

It gently tapped the floor before cracking open and revealing the demon inside. A huge green dinosaur of sorts stampeded on the ground it stood on before leaning forward and howling at May. It anxiously awaited her choice.

"...A beauty, isn't she?" James remarked, laughing.

The situation wasn't so humorous for the other side of the field. May jerked her head away and slammed her eyes shut. "_Shoot! A Tyranitar? When did Team Rocket possibly get patient enough to deal with a Tyranitar?_"

She suddenly deemed her own fight not very important. She began glancing around the rest of the ironic arena. Against the far wall, Latias and Meowth were still going at it. Dawn and Jessie, armed with a Piplup and Feraligatr respectively, were already at each other's throats as well. James and herself were next to the remaining wall of the false PokéCenter.

Once more, she huffed a breath of frustration. "_...We really need a daring prince to come forward right now._" Her head turned to the side. She was just in time to watch Dawn's Charmy nail Jessie's surprising choice in Pokémon in the weak point with an amazing Peck. "..._All right, I need a daring prince to come forward right now._" Stalling was losing its purpose. She wasn't confident, but she didn't let that stop her from grabbing a Pokéball.

It opened up in her hands. Instead of the prideful self she usually was, May's eight-year-long companion instantly fell down to a knee. Her breaths were deep.

Instead of ordering an attack, May quietly stepped up to her weak friend. She hugged her tightly when she got there. "Blaziken...I know. Day in and day out, it's just been constant training for us. None of us are in good shape right now. We're all tired, and we all deserve, at the very least, a few days' break. And I promise we'll get that...soon."

Blaziken's head dropped. Her Trainer was supposed to say "now."

"But, Blaziken...you're my only hope. You're the only one that's strong enough to deal with a creature like that. Blaziken, there are...lives at stake in this battle. Oh, how I'd just love to tell my opponent I can't fight right now...but I can't. We can't turn back. Dawn's friend Sunnite is in danger, and we need to help her. Please, Blaziken...you need to stay strong. Just for a little while longer. Then we'll all get rest. I promise."

The inspirational speech did what it said on the box. Through the pain and weakness that flushed constantly through her body, Blaziken stood up and took on a fighting pose. "Ken, ken, Blaziken!"

May closed her eyes and heaved a totally silent, "_Yes._" Relieved that her opponent had uncharacteristically waited for her, May got behind the panting Blaze Pokémon and pointed at Tyranitar. "Let's give the Green Hornet over there something to remember us by! Don't over-exert yourself, but try a Double Kick!"

James tapped his two index fingers together. "...It was just a tiny hair-dye incident gone wrong..." he mumbled quietly. He suddenly straightened up. "Grr...! Show that season-six has-been we aren't to be taken lightly anymore! Rock Slide!"

"Oh, if you want to take this game to an 'advanced' level, you should have just told me!" May smirked. The joke was bad, but she knew that Brendan would approve of it. "Get ready to counter, Blaziken!"

Tyranitar, in spite of itself, jumped high into the air. At least, high enough to slam the ceiling with a heavy punch. The top floor began to collapse, and it was coming down in pieces. Waiting steadfastly, Blaziken lifted a leg into the air. When a huge chunk of ceiling tile came falling down, Blaziken swept her foot into the air and launched it with extraordinary force right back to Tyranitar. The attack hit without a hitch, and May's Pokémon spotted another opportunity to do the same thing again. Rolling on the ground to reach the target, yet another chunk of ceiling was successfully kicked at Tyranitar.

Unfortunately, the defensive Double Kick reached its limit at the worst time. A third and final piece of the ceiling fell directly on top of Blaziken. She tumbled forwards until she eventually recovered.

The rumbling finally ceased. The roof of the first floor was still in-tact, though there was no way it could survive a second hit.

May flinched. She knew that every single attack that connected could cost Blaziken's vitality dearly. "_This is a great start, Blaziken, please keep going..._ Now, keep your distance! Flamethrower!"

A stream of fire was quickly released straight from Blaziken's beak. Tyranitar didn't even bother to dodge it. The formidable Pokémon came out of the Flamethrower just about the same way it was going into it.

"So she wants to play an indirect war. Then a Dark Pulse sounds fun!" James giggled.

Tyranitar threw its hands off to the side and swiftly charged an otherworldly black-colored orb in its hands. It easily pushed forward, and the attack was launched at Blaziken. She weakly leapt out of the way, only to get pinned to the wall by a second Dark Pulse.

"Or Dark Pulses. Either, really," James corrected himself, a single hand on his hip.

May fell to her knees. After a moment of staring at Blaziken's lifeless body, she landed on all fours. "I'm so sorry, Dawn," she cried loudly, tears falling out of her eyes. "I'm useless! I just can't fight an-y-more!" The last two words came out in three sections, all being separated by chokes. "Forgive me, please, forgive me..."

"May, May!" Dawn ignored her own battle and raced over to her crying friend. Jessie was throwing a temper tantrum that she was forgotten about so easily, but Dawn tuned her out. "Please stand up, May."

May did as she was told. Her bloodshot eyes turned to Dawn, but they didn't get much of a chance to see her. May got held tightly around her waist.

"It's okay. You did the best you could. That's the only important thing. Please, relax..."

Being on the opposite side of the waterworks slid right past Dawn.

"Yeah, May..." The doors to the building opened up. A certain boy, smirking, was on the other side. "...Relax."

The hug broke apart. Mixed emotions were on everybody's faces but Latias and Meowth, who were injuring each other time and time again to notice him.

He stepped into the building and stood beside May. A Pikachu jumped off his shoulder while he lifted a Pokéball up. "Relax."

May didn't say anything. In fact, the entire building was awkwardly silent, besides Meowth's constant Brooklyn accent hurling random, ineffective insults at Latias. May recalled Blaziken, then backed up to the wall.

Dawn stared at her suddenly-mysterious comrade. After at least five seconds, she gave a small, but received nod to him and started walking back towards Charmy.

Dusk didn't mind her silence that much; the movement of her head had proven enough gratitude. The Pokéball in his hands opened up, and an arrogant little bunny was released from it.

Dawn noticed this and gave another glance to Umbreon. This time, she didn't stay as quiet. "You been busy today?"

James was also looking on in interest. "Uhm...This is...a joke, right? Before you continue, I want to tell you that I have always wanted to be on Candid Camera. Ooo! That show is so silly."

The smirk on the Buneary's face wasn't even as wide as the one on Dusk's. "You're right. I can't beat that huge beast of yours! This is in the bag."

Jessie spun around to face her own partner. "Underestimate that thing and die! If not by him, by me! We've come too far for this to get screwed up now, and your cockiness will make that happen somehow!"

"...R-right," James scoffed. "Stay on guard, Tyranitar, and use Dark Pulse again!"

Like a timer that had just gone off, Dusk's overconfident attitude morphed into a controlled state of mind. "Flash him, Vesera," he commanded collectedly.

Part-way through Tyranitar's charge, the nicknamed Buneary twirled around once on a single heel and gave her opponent a highly-attractive wink. "Buneary, bun."

The brute stopped charging a Dark pulse. The more it tried to hide a blush, the worse it got.

"That's one shipping that I will never support." Dusk pointed at his opponent. "I've seen you do it in practice. Ice Punch!"

Taking advantage of Tyranitar's childish, dazed state, Vesera quickly hopped forward and delivered a bone-chilling uppercut straight up the Rock-type's body.

"Ugh...Imbecile!" James shouted at his own ally. "Earthqua-"

"Yeah," Dusk interrupted immediately. He pointed up to the shattered ceiling. "Earthquake. C'mon."

James took a step backwards. After that Rock Slide, if an Earthquake shook the ground, the entire ceiling would inevitably fall down on them.

Dusk raised an eyebrow. "Well? I'm game if you are."

"Shut up, you little twerp! Use Crunch, Tyrani-"

"Huh?" This time, James was interrupted by his own partner. He looked over at her to see a technologically-advanced walkie talkie in her hand. "It's from...the Boss." She hit a button on it. "Yes?"

It was a female voice. Unfortunately, there was just enough static to really identify it very much. "What are you doing? How are things going?"

Charmy was one ticked-off bird. He was sent out here to fight, not get asked how the weather was. Nonetheless, all the crime he committed was putting his flippers on his hips and tapping his webbed foot on the ground.

"We finally met with some interference," Jessie replied, bored. "That only took forever. We're fighting them off now."

"Do NOT say that like it's a good thing! We cannot rescue the team that was supposed to come..." The rest was picked off by static. It came back a moment later. "Do you copy?"

"Uhh..." James answered. "...No."

"Ugh!" the ironically-sassy 'leader' shouted back. "We've lost the team that you were supposed to rendezvous with! We'll have to send another team your way, and that could take three days!"

Jessie and James quickly looked at each other, panic-ridden. "Wh-What?" they both shouted.

"If you can't fight off whoever's bugging you, just cut your losses and GET OUT OF THERE." Without a warning, the other end disconnected, leaving a loud buzzing noise to ring through the Center.

Jessie finally shut the item off, then turned back towards the heroes. "Well...This is awkward."

"A little," James complimented.

"Look, twerps," Jessie stated while returning Feraligatr to its Pokéball. "We're done for now. If you feel the need to take your stupid Pokémon back, go nuts."

"And next time, Limey Bandana over there won't get a last-minute rescue!" the other added, shaking his fist in May's general direction.

"Ta-ta!"

For reasons that can't be explained, the entire building fell black as night. Hardly a moment later, the lights came back on. Team Rocket was nowhere in sight. Latias looked side to side, confused, before morphing back into her previous human form. Dawn was amazed to see that the bag with the ocarina in it was back in her hand.

Dusk lifted Vesera's Pokéball up. He recalled her silently; he actually wanted to make some wisecrack while he did it, but he could feel the intruding gazes of the women penetrating him from nearly every direction. It was enough to discourage him from even opening his mouth, much less saying anything. Wizard, able to predict where this might be headed, huffed a "Pika" and sagged on Dusk's shoulder.

"...Tell her," Dawn said after what seemed to be an eternity without any other sounds. "Umbreon, you have to know by now. Tell May what's going on."

"I can't," Dusk stated plainly. He turned his body so he was facing Dawn, only to find out that all of the females had assembled close to her. "To do that, I would need to know what's going on myself."

The oldest out of the group turned her head away. One part of her wanted to be thankful for that response; not only did that mean her best friend was clean, but she could safely decide that she was done battling for the day. Unfortunately, the positives didn't outweigh the negatives. Her head remained dazed, if not even more so than before. "But...who would go through the trouble of impersonating you so well? Umbreon, the eye-witnesses say that there's literally no difference between the picture of you on the news and the killer..."

Latias' head drooped a bit. Dawn not only noticed this, but drew attention to it. "Latias, do you know something?"

Her only response was moving her head farther away from anybody. Her expression was sad, but also more protective than usual. The ones that were capable of being vocal decided not to push her any more.

"Where do we go from here...?" May wondered quietly.

"I'm going to go look for Sunnite," Dawn stated. Following up her own order, she set a hand on her double's shoulder. "C'mon. I'll need your help to find her Pokéball."

The thrill of an item hunt seemed to give a little life back into Latias. She agreed to the request and both Dawns scurried to beat each other in a race to behind the counter.

Watching them, May wanted to smile. She didn't need to be told that they had grown close to each other, but the perplexing mystery of Dusk lingered. The latter overtook the former, making sure her mood stayed depressed.

Without a word to his irreplaceable comrade, Dusk began walking in the opposite direction. He inevitably reached the automated doors, at which point May decided it was time to stop him. "Umbreon, where are you going?"

"...Don't know," he replied honestly. "Just need to be alone for awhile."

"Don't get caught..." May warned, though she had almost no voice while she talked.

The doors shut behind him; May soon found herself to be rather lonely. She quickly gave chase to the two girls.

Despite being blatantly obvious while in the light that was illuminating from the Pokémon Center, Dusk didn't move another step after the doors had closed. The protective blanket of nighttime gave him a feeling of confidence. A brisk wind suddenly blew through the area, not that he minded. His arms were already folded.

"Wizard...Go."

"Pika?"

"Go find Dawn and keep her company. I think May misses you, too. I have to go do something."

"Chu, Pika pika Pi!" Wizard protested roughly, shooting daggers at his obstinate Trainer.

"Do as I say." Though the words could have been mistaken as mean, the way he had said them proved that not to be his intentions. To Wizard, it was more of a plea than a command.

Still a bit reluctant of the idea, the mouse nodded slowly and dashed after May.

Finally alone, Dusk dug into his pocket. His hand came out holding a unique heart with the words "Best Friend" on it. He effortlessly pulled the item in two. One half went back into his pocket, while he kept a grip on the other side. After looking part-way over his shoulder one last time, he stepped out into the summer-like nighttime air.

**-A/N-**

I need to make two quick points:

1) As of this chapter being updated, Only a Madman Chapters 6-13 have **no scene dividers in them**. That is this site's brilliant work, not mine.  
2) Once more, as of this chapter being updated, there will be minor inconsistencies in some of the following chapters (for example, it's briefly mentioned in the next chapter that Dawn's been crying). Though I _really_ don't have the time to re-write every chapter at the time being, luckily I don't believe there will be too many occasions where this will be much of an issue.

If neither of these points bother you, please, continue enjoying Only a Madman at your leisure!


	6. Unexpected Recollection

"Hey, May? I got good news and random news..."

It hadn't really taken May too long to find Dawn after that whole incident had gone down. She was in a side room, holding up Sunnite's Pokéball. Latias was behind her, rubbing Dawn's shoulders comfortingly. The human girl had bloodshot eyes, and a tear streak down each cheek, but actually seemed completely normal otherwise. May was thankful that her new, silent friend was able to help that much, at the very least.

The room was pretty cramped. There was just enough room to fit a patient's chair, a regular chair, and a metal container for three dozen Pokéballs. The girls had to somewhat force their way in.

May just stayed right at the doorframe. "What is it?"

"I found Sunnite's Pokéball, but..." Dawn's voice drifted away. A moment later, she lifted up another sphere. It was regular-colored; however, this one had a mysterious brand on it, directly in the center of the red portion. It was in the shape of an odd 'M.' "...What should we do about this one?"

May's mind froze up. Her facial features followed suit. "Um, um, um..." She gulped. "Um, actually, Dawn, you know what? You can keep it! Hahaha!" she rattled on nervously. "Yeah, yeah! You should keep it. The Trainer won't want it. I mean, he would have been back for it by now, right? I mean, don't you agree? Enh, heheh..."

Dawn slowly craned her head to Latias. Her friend was even more confused than she was. Finally, the true blue started laughing. "I think something snapped in your head, May."

The oldest woman looked away sadly. "Yeah, sorry...Guess I just got a little excited...But I am being honest. You should take care of that Pokémon now, Dawn. Atleast for now, right? We can always return it to its original Trainer if we ever find him."

Thoughtfully, Dawn stared at the incrypted 'M.' "I...guess so...It still doesn't really feel right, though. I mean, just taking a Pokémon like this?"

"I promise you, it's fine, Dawn." May smiled, if not to herself. "Consider it a Hoenn custom."

"Well...Alright. You win." Dawn put the surprise gift into her holdall. "But the suspense will have to build. I'm too hungry to think about that right now. Even though it's not actually a PokéCenter, I wonder if they still put a cafeteria in here?" Dawn looked at Latias before slipping past May. Latias, of course, followed her closely.

May took a moment to herself to blow out a huge sigh. "_What in the name of earth and beyond is Team Magma's Pokémon doing in a place like this?_" After being beckoned, May gave a quick "Coming!" and ran after the two.

--

"'Winding Down Instruments...' What a great way for a star to quickly crash and burn."

Roark nodded his head. "And a wonderful evening to you, too, dippy."

Dusk, despite being on a quest for something, decided to take a small break in the same store Dawn had visited earlier. Roark was behind the counter from the start this time. That black rag was still in his hands.

"I won't even waste my time asking why you're alive, letalone here."

"Yeah," Roark agreed, getting rather sleepy. "Your sex partner said the same thing earlier."

Disturbingly, Umbreon immediately knew who he was talking about. "Dawn? She was here?"

"Mm-hm. She wasted all the money you gave her for a good time on one flute. Maybe she's a whore, but she must get deep when it comes to music."

"Hey, Roark, let me ask you something..."

"I knew this day would come..." Roark leaned on the counter and sighed. "Alright, I'm going to give it to you straight. Birds and bees honestly have nothing to do with the story at--"

"That's not what I was going to ask." Dusk finally stepped into the store. He got to the counter and leaned on it with his backside. His arms were sort of hugging himself. "...Why did you actually push me out of the way of that attack when we were on Coronet?"

Roark shrugged. "I got to push you. It was fun."

Dusk didn't reply.

The silence caught on. Finally, Roark gave an over-dramatic sigh and turned around. He began dusting some random items with the cloth. "What can I say? Rampardos was pretty danged up, and he was all I had on me. If I had to go down, I might as well have atleast taken the bullet for somebody that could keep fighting."

"So what? The big, bad Gym Leader's softening up now?"

"That's three questions," Roark noted. "By the way, since you're here, give this to Xena." He turned around and lightly shot a case on the counter. It was in the perfect shape of the ocarina Dawn had bought, and even matched the wooden color. It was able to be attached to a belt, if preferred. "Comes free with the thing she got."

Dusk grabbed the item. He started walking towards the door, laughing. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Said the fly to the spider. Your rep bottomed-out so fast, the stock market got jealous and had to drop some more."

That instantly stopped Umbreon's jubilant chuckles, along with his movement.

"I would have so slammed Dawn's face into that one if I knew it then," Roark continued. "But I didn't find out about your little escapade with the devil until dinner tonight. Ah, well. If you don't mind a compliment from me, I think you're doing a fine job of it. You might want to start hiding the bodies, though. You need to make sure you can get away from the scene fast enough."

"I didn't do it, Roark!" Dusk shouted, teeth clenched.

"Whoa-ho! Let's put the weapons away, BatGirl. Just stirring up conversation."

"I almost lost every single friend I have because of that jerk. I take down one crime syndicate, and I'm automatically cloned?!"

Roark raised an eyebrow at him. "You're the one that wants pity? You wear that beret on your own free will. He has to do it to look the part. Honestly, I feel bad for him, not you."

Dusk shook his head. "...And to think, I was actually lulled into believing I could hold an intellegent conversation with you."

The Gym Leader bent down and got out another can of beer. He popped it open, then took a sip. "And whose fault's that, huh?"

Still somewhat winded, Dusk continued through the door. He ignored the bell that dinged as he opened the door and continued on through it.

Alone, Roark looked at the mostly-full can of beer. "...I was going to offer some to him." After a moment of pondering that thought, he shrugged it off and gulped down nearly half the can at once.

--

Graciously, the trio of girls did find a small cafeteria. It wasn't nearly as large as what they were used to, and there definitely wasn't as much food, but it would still work for what they needed it to. By 21:45, the three were sitting at a table able to seat four. May was by herself, while the two Dawns occupied the other side. All three had plates in front of them, Latias's being the smallest portion of them.

Before even being able to start conversation, a fourth member joined the team. "Pika!" He instantly leaped for May's shoulder.

"Aww..." May moaned as Wizard cutely climbed down her body and into her lap. He snuggled into it softly and shut his eyes. "I don't know about your Trainer anymore, but you're still awesome, aren't you, Wizard?" She began petting him softly with one hand and eating with the other. "So, after that huge mess, I think it's time we finally caught up with each other. What's up, Dawn? It hasn't even been a week..." She giggled. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story...Wizard got stolen by some group called Team Aqua, and we chased them two-thirds of the way to Hoenn...After we got him back, we just decided it'd be easier to come here instead of going back to Sinnoh."

"_Team...Aqua?_" May suddenly lost her appetite. "_...Why are they all coming back now?_"

Latias fidgeted a bit.

May looked up to see the worried expression on her face. "No, it's okay, Latias. I'm fine," she comforted with a genuine smile, glad she was cared about. "I know it was quite an unfortunate reason to come over here, but I have to admit, even though it's only been a few days, it's so awesome to see you again, Dawn. I really did miss you."

"I know, I missed you too!" she instantly replied. "It's, like...traveling just wasn't the same. Where's Brendan, by the way?"

May frowned. "When we were...coming back to Hoenn, a really thick fog rolled in." Dawn's face caved in as the negative story continued. "We couldn't even see our own hands in front of our faces, letalone each other. Eventually, when I called out to him...he never answered back."

Dawn cupped her hands over her mouth.

"I tried..." May stopped petting the now-sleeping Wizard to reach into her waistbag. She pulled out a red device. On the screen of the gadget was the blinking words 'Not Available.' "I tried my Pokénav, but I can't call out or anything. It's been broken and flashing like this since that night. I can't even shut it off."

"...M-M-May..." Dawn stuttered out.

May tried her hardest to smile. "It's okay, Dawn. Brendan and I have been through so much worse. I know he's alright. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Wow..." Dawn shuffled her food around with a plastic fork. "Kinda...hard to eat, thinking about that, though..."

"So don't think about it!" May reached her arm across the table and grabbed a light hold of Dawn's wrist. "I told you, he's fine. I know it. Four years later, I can sense things like that!"

She forced an understanding smile. "I guess so. So what happened to you after that?"

"I landed in Pacifidlog Town. I've had to work my way west, then north from there. And I've been doing intense training since, which is why I couldn't really help much against Team Rocket earlier..."

"I told you to forget about that, May! Anyway, I got to tell you this. There's this one piece of work out there called Silver, right? While we were on that island, he tried to kidnap Latias, but she--"

Dawn stopped when one of the two doors leading into the cafeteria was opened. A boy trapped beneath French headwear quietly stepped in, shutting the door behind him. Without even looking at the girls, he strolled over to the small buffet table and looked around, picking at small snack foods.

Obviously wondering why the story was suddenly stopped, May looked around the room to see what Dawn was staring at. When she spotted Umbreon, she also watched him for a few seconds. Soon, however, she turned forward and looked at Dawn firmly. "Go talk to him."

"What?!" Dawn whisper-shouted.

"Go talk to him!" May leaned forward so she could lower her voice even more. The room was rather tinny, and echoes were made easily, so she had to be careful. "If he's back here at all, it means that he wants to work this through, but he's too shy to do it himself. You need to be the one to approach him, Dawn! And don't stop until you get an apology!"

Dawn pushed her food around some more. It was true; an apology from Dusk was something of a Holy Grail for her right now. Dawn looked at May's solid face one more time, then silently nodded and backed out of her seat. The words she was going to use were running through her mind the entire trip over to Dusk.

"...Hey, Umbreon."

Dusk spun around from looking at the food. His eyes met with a girl that was clearly trying to avoid them. She was watching her shoe, which was rubbing into the cafeteria floor. "Hey...Dawn." He turned back around and finally decided to get a plate. "So...What's up? Did you find Sunnite?"

"Yeah! Yeah...actually..." Dawn confirmed slowly. She suddenly exhaled a big breath. "Umbreon, this is pointless. You know we need to work this out."

"No, we don't," Dusk said, reaching for some cherry tomatoes. "I've been thinking about this, and it really is all my fault. Alright, most of it. I screwed up, then you over-reacted, then I over-reacted to your over-reacting. Are we good?"

An awkward smile arose. "Well, maybe not too romantic, but that was easier than I thought it'd be..."

"You know me. Get it done instantly, or not at all." He shifted his waist around to give Dawn a quick peck on the cheek. "Oh, that's right. I got something for you."

Dawn blushed. "Umb-Umbreon, you didn't have--"

"Well, if you want to get technical, I already had it. But that's besides the point." He reached into his pocket to pull out a locket. Of course, engraved were the letters "st," and "end." A small smile on his face, he lifted it up and set it into her open palm.

"What's..." Dawn picked the cheap-feeling plastic heart up and looked at it, wondering why it was broken. "What's this?"

Dusk lifted his half of the equation up as well. "I've had this thing since I was four. I told myself that'd I'd give it to my first friend." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "That's not to say it isn't embarrassing that I've had to wait ten years for it, but--"

Umbreon heaved a breath as two arms choked him around the waist. "Ten years later, your wait's ended, and that's all that's important. I love it, Umbreon! I'll never take it off!"

In the background, May obviously had quite a smile on her face. Though she didn't hear quite everything, she got the jist of it. And to see the two hugging again felt magical even inside of her. "Good...I'm so glad everything worked out." She put a small Italian-dressing-covered vegetable into her mouth. "They're so cute, aren't they, Latias?"

The eyes belonging to Latias looked a little rejected and scared as she watched the two mingle with each other in the distance. Her face was tinted a light red, and her mouth was open just enough to comfortably breathe through.

May giggled, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Oooh...Have a crush on Umbreon, do we?"

No reply.

"Don't feel bad, Latias. I love Umbreon, too. Just enjoy being his friend. Trust me, it's worth it." The Hoenn Trainer watched with an unhidden smile as the hug broke apart and Dawn equipped the necklace she was given.

Latias's head lowered. She fiddled around with her hair a little. Finally, she put an elbow on the table, held her forehead in her hand, and slowly continued eating.

It didn't take long for the two to come back over to the table. Their hand-in-hand broke apart as Dawn returned next to Latias, while Umbreon got to the other side of May. He set a plate down in front of him and a napkin on his lap.

"Umbreon, right away, I want to apologize again," May stated, watching Wizard rest. "We're way-too-great friends, and it wasn't really smart for me to just assume that the criminal was you."

"Save the apology," he replied with a smirk. "Take down the guy that's doing it and clear my name. That's all the apology I need."

Latias stopped eating. She randomly laid her head down on Dawn's lap, disappearing from the other side of the table. Dawn looked down and was about to ask what that was about, but something stopped her. She only continued watching the side of Latias's head.

"...We're going to have to be careful," May stated, trying to ignore both the other girls' weirdness. "It's not that we'll have to put you in a box and wheel you around on a dolly, but...what can I say? Whoever's copying you is doing a good job doing it. Atleast give them that much."

"Oh, don't worry, I'd love to give him something. May, this might be a stupid question, but would you help us out?"

"Umbreon...Of course I am!" she exclaimed, astonished that Umbreon had actually thought otherwise. "Could I ask...just one favor, though?"

"Request-pending, sure..."

"I know you're going to hate this...I do too..." May tapped her index fingers together. She was watching herself do that, of course. "...We can't start tomorrow. Atleast, I can't."

"Why?" Dusk wondered neutrally.

"We can't fight anymore. Me and my Pokémon, I mean. We're all so tired. If you're willing to give us one day of rest, both of you are far past welcome to stay at my home for the day."

"Only if we get to clean your fridge out for you," Dusk counter-offered, professionally throwing a small tomato into the air and catching it in his mouth.

May giggled as she gave the Pikachu in her lap a small hug. "Deal!"

Dusk suddenly straightened up. His eyes were on the girl across the table. "...Dawn? You're free to put in one or two cents here, if you want to."

"Oh...I am sorry," she said quietly, and with barely any emotion. Her eyes were still glued onto Latias. "I was...just thinking about...Latias's past."

"What?" May semi-shouted, startled. "You know about Latias's past? How?"

"It was...cold," the mindless Dawn began. "There was...so much snow. And ice. It was like this for days..."

Dusk curiously looked at May, but she didn't return it. She was busy staring at Dawn in absolute awe.

"It was...decided that their clan was...overpopulated. Latias, only two-years-old at the time, was exiled. Her own parents did nothing against this...rebellion of sorts."

"...Dawn?" Dusk finally asked.

Finally, she turned her head to look up to the boy. Her eyes were dimmed greatly. All the shine had disappeared at the recounting of the story. "Yes?"

"You, umm...You alright?"

Her head fell back to Latias. She completely ignored the question. "However, there was...one. While everyone else turned their backs, nobody but the very leader's child protested this decision. In spite of the boy's position, it was ruled that Latias could not stay. The boy kept adamant about his decision...Finally, he, too, was left behind. Latias and the boy were left to face the world on their own..."

May gulped. Though the story was intense, Dawn's blatent change of mood was what was scaring her the most. Still, a tiny voice inside her told her not to interrupt.

"Latias and the boy were together...for a very long time. But these men came from...the depths of hell. They came and captured the boy cruely. There was much screaming and blood before Latias's only friend was taken away from her. Latias has been...alone...since then..."

May tried to get some word that started with "B" out, but Dawn continued, immediately overriding her.

"Then, when she was at Coronet, she...found a friend. That friend...turned into many..." Out of absolutely nowhere, Dawn jerked her head towards Dusk. A life-blackening glare was on her face. The receiver of that didn't even know Dawn could get so lethal. "...Then Umbreon betrayed her, injured her, and ran away, lacking sympathy for her."

"Umm, okay?!" Dusk stuttered out in defense. "I apologized for that! Let it freaking go already!"

Dawn turned back to Latias. She began stroking through the familiar blue hair. "I was the one who stayed behind to nurse Latias after you worked her like a pitiful slave...Who protected her against that...red-haired boy. Umbreon, you did nothing of the sort. You don't even care for Latias anymore." Once more, Dusk got a heavy leer. "Allow me to guess. She cannot talk, so her punishment is being ignored?"

"Wha--"

Like a broken record, Dawn's gaze returned to Latias. "It doesn't make any sense that I am the only one. The only one who sees past this...inefficiancy." Without looking up, Dawn brought her hand up and pushed her plate right off the side of the table. Everything on it went flying to the ground. "The only one who sees inner beauty inside of her. May simply pretends. I can see it in her eyes. She doesn't care about being Latias's friend. She is simply...putting up with her, as she feels that she must."

May put a hand on her upper chest. "Dawn, where is this coming from?!"

An empty pause from the entire room.

"Answer me! I love Latias, and so does Umbreon! We're not 'putting up with her'! It's awesome that she's hanging out with us, and--"

"No!" Dawn shouted, nailing the table with a single, sharp pound. "You are not getting it. Show me this love for her that you claim to have. You can't, can you? Latias doesn't want fair-weather friends. Dawn--" She closed her eyes. "I have love for her that you two do not. She was once used by her family and clan, and she doesn't need to go through that once more." Still with her eyes closed, Dawn lifted Latias's head from her lap and stood up. She began walking away. "I need to be alone."

Latias finally sat up straight. Once Dawn was out of the cafeteria, she opened her eyes and looked at the other two with confusion for a moment. It didn't take her long until she bounced out of her seat and gave chase.

Dusk picked his plastic fork back up and played with his remaining food. "Welllll...that was different."

"And scary," May added, observing the blissfully-ignorant Wizard once again. "Is that honestly what Dawn thinks? That we're just...'putting up with' Latias? And the reason she gave?! I hate that Dawn thinks we don't like Latias just because she's mute...I hate that Dawn thinks we don't like Latias at all!"

Dusk chuckled. "Yeah, I love that reason. And it makes perfect sense, too, considering I had conversations with my goldfish all the time."

"Please stop laughing, Umbreon!" May genuinely asked. "There's nothing funny about this! Both Dawn and Latias are scared, and we have to find out why."

"Sor-ry," he moaned.

May sighed. "...I'm sorry, Umbreon. Just...too much stuff has been happening too fast, and I'm getting a little on-edge because of it. Sorry. Maybe it's time that we all turn in. I was planning on heading home tonight, but after all that, we might as well just stay here. If Team Rocket was kind enough to give us food and a place to stay for the night, I suppose we might as well take it." After a moment of quietness, she smirked. "Sorry, captain. Am I talking out of line?"

"Don't worry about it, cadet. I'll reinstate myself tomorrow."

May gently picked Wizard up, making sure not to wake him, and set him softly on the table. She got out of her seat and began walking towards the same door Dawn and Latias had run to. Scarcely seven steps in, however, she stopped. "...Umbreon?"

"Yeah?"

The girl rubbed her fingers on a single hand together. "You...do accept Latias as a friend, don't you?"

There was no reply.

May looked over a shoulder. No particular emotion at all was on her face. "You actually...don't? Is it because of her inability to speak?"

"I just told you that I talk to goldfish," he responded blankly.

"I don't care," she noted, turning around. "Umbreon, I don't know where any of that came from within Dawn, but if you noticed something else, Latias never exactly denied any of it. She's scared that we won't accept her just because she's not actually a human. That isn't fair, or correct."

"Are you even hearing the same words that your saying?" Dusk stood up. "May, are you doubting me? Again?"

May frowned. Her head turned away from Dusk. "...Guess so..." she mumbled out quietly.

"You want the truth? Sure, I'll tell you. Just don't tell Dawn or Latias. I couldn't care less that Latias can't talk. I'm not three-years-old. I can understand that she isn't an actual human. My beef with her is her attitude." May's head shot back at Dusk. "I hate that she just won't let me hitting her go. I understand that's a bit hypocritical, but I don't care. One of the very first things that Dawn said to me was that she understood that the only reason I did what I did was because I was blinded by the rage of getting Wizard stolen. Why can't Latias accept that too? Why does she have to hang onto this? And why does she have to be so defensive of Dawn? Isn't that my job? I can barely say 'Dawn' without getting huffed at anymore."

May kicked at the floor. "I know this is going to seem ironic, after Sinnoh and everything, but...Maybe the best thing to do right now is to just get away from each other. With a little luck, we'll all feel better about this in the morning. And maybe...I can finally stop immediately pointing a finger at you for every little thing. I'm sorry, Umbreon. It's no excuse, but I'm just confused right now. I need answers to alot of things, and Dawn going off like that just added even more questions."

"Don't worry about it. We all get on-edge eventually." Dusk picked Wizard up and began heading for the opposite door. "I'm going to go put a 'closed' sign out front. Get some sleep, May."

"Good night..." With a mental push to herself, May continued on through her own door.

--

"Ow...ow...Massive headache..."

Dawn had nearly collapsed the moment she'd stepped out of the cafeteria door. Latias quickly helped her to a side room, managing to sneak inside before they were spotted.

Dawn slid down the shut door, holding her temples. The room was completely pitch-black, which both helped and hurt the migraine. "Ugh...What just happened? I hardly remember anything..."

Latias sat down and rubbed her cheek on Dawn's shoulder affectionately. After getting comfortable, she closed her eyes and rested on the human pillow.

The girl gave a weak smile and lowered one of her hands to run through Latias's hair. "Can I ask you a question?" There wasn't much of a response. Her smile dropped before she continued. "Did you just control my mind?"

There was movement on her shoulder. Since the room was so dark, Dawn couldn't really tell what that movement was.


	7. May Day

A silent Dawn bashed in the door to May's room. She ran over to the bed excitedly. The bedsheets that were covering May were picked up instantly and tossed aside. The wide smile on her face crashed when she laid eyes on May's expression.

A solid line of salty water trailed around May's cheeks. Her eyes were completely bloodshot. Still sobbing, she turned around to see what had happened to the thin blankets that were on top of her a moment ago. "Oh...Dawn...Or is it Latias?" she choked out, forcing a smile. "What's wrong?"

Latias frowned. After a moment of pondering the situation, she bent down to kiss May softly on one of the wet cheeks. May, being paralyzed by the touch, didn't even realize the other girl blowing out of the room.

The Hoenn Trainer eventually came back to her senses. "_...Please let that have been Latias. God, I won't ask for anything else today if that was Latias. Deal?_" She gulped, thinking of the horror of actually being turned on by a kiss from Dawn.

Whatever the case was, she didn't have much time to think about it. The true blue knocked on the wall just outside the door, then peeked her head in. "May? What's wrong?"

"Oh!" It finally hit May that she'd been crying. As if it'd mean anything, she quickly started wiping her face off with her hands. "N-No, nothing, I'm fine." Knowing that this tactic literally never worked, May forced herself to continue. "I was just thinking about...something I probably shouldn't have been. Anyway, I guess it's morning?"

"Actually, you're wrong," Dawn answered with a curious grin. "You just missed morning by about eight minutes."

"What?! It's already after noon?" May shouted, panicking.

"Yeah..." Sick of talking about such a casual subject as what time it was, Dawn stepped into May's loaned room. She sat down on the bed next to her, setting a hand peacefully on her knee. "It's okay that you're worried about Brendan, May. There's no reason to hide that. We'll find him, you know that!"

May forced a smile as quickly as she could. "Thank you, Dawn." She sat up so she could give Dawn a friendly hug. "_Brendan..._" She sighed, though she tried to keep it to herself. "_...I forgot about him._ _Thanks for giving me something else to worry about, Dawn..._" Once more, she sighed before letting go. "Anyway, I'm sorry to keep everyone waiting. Do you want to head to my house now?"

"Sure! Anything has to be more fun than hanging around this dump." Dawn stood up to exit, but May grabbed her arm first.

"Wait, Dawn! Umm...If you don't mind me asking...Damage control?"

Dawn blinked at her for a moment, not understanding what that meant. After it hit her, she laughed. "No worries. We're all good again. Even Umbreon and Latias signed a peace treaty."

The positive response gave a bit of life back to May. She smiled, also rising up.

The two girls left the room, though not before May looked back to make sure she didn't leave anything behind.

The group was out the door as soon as everybody rejoined with each other. All four were close, though there was definitely less space between Dusk and Dawn. In spite of being the only one to actually know where they were going, May wasn't in the lead. Dusk always being in that position had become a habit. Latias seemed to eye the Sinnoh Trainers often, though the eldest didn't bring any attention to it.

They were about half an hour away from May's home. And the woman knew what she wanted to talk about on the trip over. Of course, her first priority was breaking the ice.

"Sorry for sleeping in. I don't even remember the last time I've done that..." May noted, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"It's no problem, May. Not like we were going to do much today anyway, right?" Dusk sighed. "...Karma's laughing at that question right now. I can feel it."

Latias seemed to whine something, but couldn't manage a single sound while in human form. Her eyes were locked worriedly on May.

She smiled back warmly. "If you're worried about me crying earlier, Latias, it's okay. I'm fine."

"Crying?" the only male interrupted.

"Yeah..." she replied quietly, sending him a message to drop that subject. "Dawn, I--"

She stopped talking. Dawn turned her head over her shoulder to see what the matter was, though nothing was to be found but a flustered expression.

"Oh, um...I was wondering how long you've been hanging around with Latias? You two are awfully close."

Dawn blushed, masking it with a giggle. "I guess so. Um...Well, actually, I guess we really got to know each other because of Wizard getting stolen. Come to think of it, we really haven't been seperated since." Dawn laughed. "Fate, maybe?"

Latias turned her head opposite of the entire group.

May continued playing innocent. "What do you mean? You got to know each other?"

"Well, yeah." Dawn's eyes stayed on the road below. "We really bonded. She even drew some pictures about her past in the sand. I wonder if they're still there..."

"_This is going too easy,_" May mused. "Oh, really? Would you tell us? I'm definitely interested..."

Latias jerked her head toward Dawn. She didn't need words to convey her discomfort about this subject.

"...Actually, how about some other time?" Dawn replied with a hidden frown, having caught Latias's glance. "Um, sorry, I don't mean any offense or anything..."

May looked over to see a relieved expression on Latias. It made her frown. "_Shoot. Dumb dragon._ Don't apologize! I understand. Did you sleep well last ni--"

"I don't want to talk about it."

May blinked. It took her a quarter of a minute to remember to respond verbally. "Um...What?"

Dawn's fists clenched. "I said I don't want to talk about it."

Once more, May was nothing short of baffled. "Don't want to talk about wha--"

Dawn stopped walking, enabling her to spin around and kill May dead with a single glare. The rest of the gang promptly stopped as well, though Dusk was the only one to completely turn his back to the conversation. "Last night! I don't want to talk about anything about last night! My word, can't you people get that? Umbreon did the same thing this morning! If I don't want to talk about last night, then I'm not going to!"

May's eyes were unknowingly and unnaturally wide. "...D-D-Dawn, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to--"

"I'm sure you didn't." She turned back around, rested her forehead on three fingers, and sighed. "Look, can we just go to your house now? Where is it? I'm going to run ahead. I just want to be alone right now."

"Y-Yeah...um...Just take your next two rights, and find a pale green house...That's mi--"

May couldn't even get to the bottom of her sentence before Dawn took off running. Latias gave May one of those 'hurt my friend again and I'll eat you' looks, then quickly chased after her.

"...Pikachu," Wizard sighed.

"Sound familiar, buddy?" Dusk wondered.

May turned her still-winded self to her remaining teammate. "Huh?"

Dusk rubbed Wizard on the top of his head. His back was still turned to May. "We made the same mistake of talking about last night too. It went just about as well as that did."

"Pika pika..."

Finally regaining her composure, May found the energy to fold her arms and look in another direction. "...A warning next time, Captain?"

"It's probably a bad thing that I'm more scared of Dawn than I was Giovanni, isn't it?"

May chuckled, finding herself out of her anger fit already. "I don't blame you. If looks could kill, I'd never know whatever happened to Brendan."

The remaining two got to May's house. Leaning on the bottom of the two-story building was one Dawn, with another one standing right next to her. When she heard the footsteps of her friends, Dawn turned her head up from the well-trimmed grass and sighed. Latias also turned her head to look at them.

"I'm...sorry," Dawn muttered out before either of the other two had a chance to talk.

Awkward silence filled the short space in between everybody. When she realized that her friend wasn't continuing, Latias shifted on her heel and gave Dawn her own death-dealing stare. She received it, and like many others before her, cringed. She forced herself to turn back to her friends, though she could only manage a weak glance.

"I'm sorry...for blowing up like that." Latias smiled. Dawn noticed this out of the corner of her eye. She knew that the Pokémon was enjoying this, but couldn't figure out why. "...To both of you. I'd just...prefer if we left last night alone, okay?"

"Dawn..." May beamed, almost to the point of laughing. "Of course it's alright! We were never mad at you for that, so you don't have to apologize so much for it." She froze. "Er, I mean, we're not mad at you for anything! Dear, I need to stop making that mistake...um...Umbreon, back-up?"

Dusk chortled. "Whatever. Come on, let's get inside. I'm hungry."

As she began walking towards the door, May stretched her arms. "Oh, it feels so good to not have to worry about training today...Too much work for too little pay." She twisted the doorknob and instantly walked inside. Umbreon soon disappeared behind her.

Dawn got off the wall and turned to follow suit, but shifted her head over her shoulder to glance at the tinted Latias.

The split second she realized she was getting stared at, Latias craned her head in a different direction, looking at any random object her eyes could focus on. Her face continued heating up.

"...Latias?" Dawn began quietly. "Why was it so important to you that I apologized to May and Umbreon?"

Latias brushed it off at first by shrugging, but then she shook her head. Her eyes were anywhere but near Dawn's.

Dawn turned around. Curiosity, and maybe even anger were on her face. "Latias, what? You've had weird moments ever since we got to Hoenn. What are they--"

May peeked her head out the door. "Huh? Are you two coming?"

Latias quickly took the opportunity. She blew past Dawn with her face possibly more red than when she's in Pokémon form, and dashed into the house. May had to quickly sidestep just to get out of the way.

"..._Grr..._" Dawn cursed, storming her way to the door as well.

Sensing her friend's anger, May was careful while shutting the door after her tempermental friend had stepped through. "Um...So...What do you feel like doing? It doesn't look like anybody else is home right now, so..."

"Could I just watch TV, please?"

May wasn't intending to give Dawn an argument when she was in this state. "Sure, of course! The family room's over there."

The bottom of the two stories was impressively generic, to put it simply. The couch, chairs, television set, and grandfather clock stood in one room, with useful kitchen appliances in the other. A random French boy was pillaging the fridge. There was no wall seperating the two, so it was basically one large room. In the back were stairs that led up to the next floor. The walls were painted a fun white, with nothing but the occasional family picture covering it.

Dawn made it about two steps towards the couch before May let out a loud gasp. "Oh, Dawn, I completely forgot! Have you checked to see what that Pokémon was?"

"Pokémon?" Dusk echoed from the kitchen.

A heavy smirk rose to Dawn's face. "Yep! I checked it this morning. You two can see it later, okay?"

"Oh, sure..." She gave the curious Dusk a quick shrug before deciding to give him company. She walked over to the counter and jumped on it just in time to watch Dawn turn the TV on via remote control. Wizard was laying down next to her, having already been there. "Today's...weird. I think I should have stayed in bed even longer."

Wizard yawned, causing Dusk to laugh. "I think Wizard would have liked that, too."

May turned her head to look at their team icon. "Wizard? Is something wrong?"

"...Misses Ionu," Umbreon answered quietly.

"Ooh..." May giggled and also laid down on the wide counter, snuggling close to Wizard. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his soft fur rubbing against her face. "It's okay, Wizard. I promise you that Ionu loves you very much, and misses you as much as you do her...I also promise you that you'll see her real soon! Whether she comes to Hoenn, or you go back to Sinnoh, I don't know, but we'll find some way..."

Wizard didn't reply. May assumed she knew why. "Hm...So cute..."

Dusk smirked. "...Thanks."

"It's just the truth."

"Not that!" he quickly shot back. "I mean, for helping him..."

"Oh..." May stood up straight. "Of course." She giggled. "Wizard's just as important to me as you are, you know."

"That's reassuring. Thanks."

May laughed. When she calmed down, she decided to change the subject. "Did I miss something?"

"I think you might have missed the aisle that contained good food..." Dusk moaned. He finally shut the fridge door and started opening every cabinet he came across.

"I just got back to Littleroot from being shipwrecked, and you blame the food shortage on me?!" she pouted. "For your information, I was talking about Dawn and Latias..."

Dusk pulled out a box of crackers. "Oh. Well, that's something I can't help you with. I have no idea where those two stand, either. I'm just kinda playing it by ear."

"Any idea where Latias went?"

"Upstairs, I think..." Dusk mindlessly answered, enraptured with the odd-tasting salty snack he'd slipped into his mouth.

"I think I'll go talk to her..." May got off the counter and headed for the stairs. Before heading up them, she turned her head to see what Umbreon was eating. "Umbreon? Um...Are the words 'Love from Johto' written on that box in permanent marker anywhere?" she inquired.

Dusk glanced at the blue box. He spotted the writing, and nervously nodded his head up and down.

May blinked. "Those were a gift from my brother...when he first went to Johto. Um...four years ago."

"...That..." Dusk started, looking around for a napkin. He found a paper towel and didn't hesitate to empty his mouth out. "...That would answer alot of things."

Not quite sure what to feel about that situation, May blankly continued on up the stairs. By the time she reached the top step, she'd put the thought out of her mind.

Every door in the well-lit hallway was shut except one, which happened to be May's own room. She silently stepped inside, immediately immersing herself in the familiar surroundings.

Her room was unknowingly not that different from Dawn's: a hot pink rug covered the floor, and lighter pink covered the walls. The single window in the room gave a beautiful view of the outside, where quite a number of Professor Birch's Pokémon were playing together. Unlike Dawn's room, May had a dressing table, complete with as many useless perfumes and other make-up supplies as could be imagined. She also had a laughably small television set, with an older gaming console hooked into it.

Something that was less familiar in the room was Latias. She had been looking out the window, but immediately turned around to watch May the moment she realized she was there. Her eyes never shifted.

Noticing that fact made May feel a little uncomfortable, but she tried to shake it off. She walked into her room and kicked her boots off, which landed in a messy pile at the foot of her bed. She crashed into her mattress back-first and let out a groan of pleasure. She closed her eyes, feasting on the comfort. "Oh, that feels so nice..."

Her thoughts were interrupted when Latias started heading towards the door, a bit of a depressed expression on her face.

"Oh, Latias, no! I didn't mean to kick you out! Actually, I was hoping we could talk for a minute..."

Latias put her hands inside her pockets. She slowly turned around to face May and nodded her head.

May sat up, then lifted her dirtied-in-a-mishap legs onto her bed and folded them. "I've been thinking about some things, and I was hoping, if nothing else...Would you mind talking about last night?"

Latias lowered her head. She never actually answered the question, but since she didn't run away, May figured it was safe to continue.

"I need to know..." May got off the bed. She walked over to Latias and got down on a knee. Looking up to her, the Hoenn Trainer set a hand on Latias's shoulder. "Latias, do you feel as though Umbreon and I don't accept you?"

To say Latias felt uncomfortable would be an understatement. She removed her hands from her pockets to put them behind her back and looked away.

"Don't. I'm praying, Latias, please don't think that way. Umbreon and I love you just as much as Dawn does."

Latias blushed, but didn't physically react to it.

"I won't ask you how you told Dawn about your past, and why she seemed so angry last night, but like I told Umbreon...I noticed that you never denied anything of what she said, and that worried me. I'm so grateful for all of my friends, and that includes you! Do you want to know something?"

A slight nod.

"You're scared that we don't accept you just because you can't talk, right?"

Another, more pronounced nod was given to answer the question.

"Well, I entered this Contest for charity once. It was at Mossdeep City, and guess what? We couldn't talk to our Pokémon!"

The gentle, innocent look of surprise Latias gave put a smile on May's face. She continued.

"The entire Contest, we had to come up with strange ways of communicating with our Pokémon to tell them what to do...Finally, though, I decided to just learn morse code! That was all I needed, and I blew my way right to the top in that competition!"

Latias bowed slightly, happy to hear of the victory.

May dusted Latias's shoulder off. "My point is this...Just because something like silence hinders us, it doesn't mean that it has to block us completely. If we pull through and just keep going, all of our challenges will be overcome. Just like that Contest." May smiled. "You aren't some weird alien, Latias. And I'm definitely not 'just putting up with you,' like Dawn put it last night. You're the same as us, but just a little bit unique, which is why we love you so much. We're all just a bit unique from each other when you think about it, huh?"

Not knowing if she was supposed to answer, Latias nodded again.

"I just want you to know that it's okay. If you ever have a problem that you can't tell Dawn for some reason, don't be scared to come to me. Or Umbreon. Okay?"

Latias happily nodded. As soon as May stood up, she took the opportunity to thank her by giving her a friendly hug.

"Aww..." May rubbed the silent girl's back. "I'm a sucker for mushy moments!"

"May?" the only other female voice in the house rang out. There was light thumping just outside, which implied the voice was heading up the steps. "Do you want to--Where are you?"

Latias almost immediately dropped the embrace with May...then hid behind her. Before the woman could inquire, Dawn's head popped into the doorway.

"Oh, there you are. What channel is, um..." She paused for a moment. "...Latias? Do I bite?"

Peeking her head over May's shoulder ever-so slightly, Latias shook her head.

"Uhm..." Dawn stifled a few laughs. "If you say so. Anyway, a car just pulled in your driveway, but nobody's gotten out yet. Oh, and what's the cooking channel? Umbreon keeps going on about something about vinegar and four-year old crackers, or something, and..." Her voice drifted away for some reason.

May laughed. "I'll be right down!"

Dawn vanished.

"Well, are you ready, Lati--Huh?"

When May turned around, she was greeted with a surprise. Latias was blushing. Profusely. Her gaze was on the floor, and she was fidgeting around in her position. Her right wrist sometimes rubbed her cheek, but besides that, both arms were kept behind her back.

"Latias, what's...wrong..." May's heartrate suddenly increased. Her head jerked back to the doorway, where Dawn just was, but quickly turned back to Latias. The girl's face was possibly even more red than before. May almost started panicking. "L-La-Latias...? Y-You..." She gulped. "...It...isn't Umbreon that you have a crush on, is it?"

Wearing a shy smile, Latias shook her head softly.

May cupped her hands over her mouth. "...Oh...my."

Her mind somehow automatically shifted to what Dawn had just said. Remembering she had guests, May turned around and dashed out of the room, leaving Latias quite confused.

When she hit the bottom step, there was still nobody different in the house. Dawn was laying on the couch and Dusk, along with the sleeping Wizard, was on a chair. Though the TV was on, both had their eyes on the closed window.

"Have they come in yet...?" May asked pointlessly.

Before either could respond, the front door opened.

"Well maybe if you actually pretended to care about her, you'd--"

"I do care about her, and you know--"

"Talking about me?" May interrupted with a wide smirk on her face.

"...Sis!" the younger boy shouted, running into May's arms. He only reached as high as May's neck.

May quickly closed the embrace. "Oh, Max, it's been so long..."

Observing the two, Dusk was almost a little afraid to stand up. He knew that he was two years younger than Max, but was probably a little bit taller. The boy's green shirt was easily eye-attracting, and his brown shorts looked a size or two too small, but Dusk wasn't going to say anything. The other person to walk in was obviously their father, since the labcoat gave it away. Besides looking more youthful and overall more fun to be around, Professor Birch actually didn't look much different from Rowan.

Curiosity swelling, May stepped back. "Who were you talking about just now?"

"Um, uh, uhm..." Professor Birch stuttered, setting a hand behind his head. "...Just...a friend, actually! You don't know--"

"MOM," Max shouted, staring angrily at his father for wanting to dodge the subject.

Still keeping an ear to the conversation, Dawn dug into her holdall and pulled out a notepad and pen. She quickly jotted a sentence down, then handed it to Dusk.

"_Being invisible is fun, isn't it?_"

He forced himself not to laugh.

May doubled the amount of glares her father was receiving. "What?"

Max folded his arms and looked at May. He was angry, though obviously not at her. "Mom and Dad hate each other! Mom doesn't even live here anymore!"

"Now, Max--" Birch tried to mediate, though it didn't end well.

"What?!" May repeated.

"They don't even care about us!" Max continued. "They just got into one stupid argument and never bothered to work things out." Unsure of his own emotions, Max started heading for the stairs. It never occured to him to turn to his side and see that Dawn and Dusk were watching him swagger off.

"Hold on, Max--"

May held her arm out. "Save it. You got more problems to deal with than him." She folded her arms and stepped closer to Birch. "Did I miss our family newsletter while I was in Sinnoh?"

"...Well, actually--"

"It was a JOKE, Dad!" May retorted. "Why was this kept from me? How long has it been going on?"

"...May, we didn't feel the need to tell you because we thought we could work it out. And we still might! We're in counseling right now, doing everything we can. Please try to relax, May. We're going to be fine, and you know that both of us love you and Max no matter what happens...Alright? Come here..." Birch hugged his daughter.

Dusk gave a quick smirk as his eyes fell on Wizard. "_...I can only imagine that this is how Rowan treated Dawn._"

May put her arms around his back and sighed. "...I missed you, Daddy..."

"I missed--" Unlike the one before him, Birch finally turned his head to see the other two Trainers hiding in plain sight. "...Oh. Hello there!" he shouted, releasing May from his grip. "Introductions later?" He turned to May and kissed her on the cheek. "I need to go check on the Pokémon. I promise that we'll be a family through this, okay?" He sidestepped his daughter and jogged over to a back door.

May, however, headed for the front door. When she got there, she leaned forward and repeatedly banged her head on it.

Dawn stood up. "...M-May? Is there...anything we can do?"

Bang. "Knock me out." Bang. "Or kill me." Bang. "I really don't care which." Finally, her forehead rested on the door. "I've been awake for an hour and really, really want to go back to bed_..._" she mumbled to herself.

Dawn looked back at Dusk. He wasn't much help. She sighed and sat back down on the couch.

A few seconds passed, and everything except anything changed. May slowly peeled herself off the door, turned about-face to her two friends, and bowed. "I'm...sorry. You really shouldn't have been forced into that drama."

The bluehead once more felt obligated to stand up. "You're apologizing? May, the general rule of thumb is that you only apologize for things that are actually your fault."

"I know, but..." May's head turned off to the side. "It just wasn't fair. Would you two excuse me? I want to talk to Max..."

Dawn forced a smile. "Beat it."

May turned and ran back up the stairs, two at a time.

"...Wow." Dawn sat back down. Feeling it was just about worthless right now, she reached for the remote to shut the TV off.

Silence.

"...Umbreon, we have to come up with something."

"For what?"

"For what?! For May! And Max. Tell me that we don't owe it to them to atleast try to cheer them up with something. C'mon, just admit that the bowing was weird, even for May. When we finish saving the world and that together, it's usually a good indication that we're not strangers anymore..."

"And how do you recommend that we, two completely insignificant parties, meddle in May's family affair? Isn't there a chance that doing that could be considered rudeness?"

Dawn found herself without many words after that.

* * *

The entire day passed before the entire group actually managed to get back together. Dusk and Dawn were in their same seats as before, though the latter was sitting up straight; her lap was being used as a pillow for Latias, who was sleeping soundly. Max was in the other chair, and Professor Birch had pulled another in from a storage room for himself. May was on the floor with her back against the couch. A now-awake Wizard was sitting on her lap.

All of them were eating their dinner of hot dogs and potato chips. Considering that not much had been said through-out the day by anybody, the silence was only made even more awkward.

Birch knew he was in the spotlight. And hated it. "...So, Dawn, you're quite lucky to have made such great friends with a Latias like that. How did you two come to know each other?"

Dawn didn't reply immediately. She was too busy restraining herself. "_...It's not 'a Latias,' it's 'Latias.'_" She eventually forced herself to answer. "Actually, we just became best friends a couple days ago. Wizard ran away, so we had to call Latias in for help...and the rest is history," she recalled, smiling at the unconscious lookalike on her lap.

Birch nodded in interest. May and Dusk, however, both looked at each other, then at Dawn. Neither of them were going to question why she changed the story...but it was definitely on both their minds.

"Umbreon?" Dawn spoke up. "Could we go for a walk?"

"Oh, um...Sure," he replied, finishing off his hot dog.

"Latias?" Dawn rocked her own lap, vibrating Latias's head. "Wake up! We're going for a walk, okay?"

Latias sleepily nodded, then rolled over and shut her eyes.

Dawn rolled her fingers. "...That meant you, too, Latias..."

She yawned and stretched before complying. She got off Dawn and lazily rubbed her eyes.

"Please excuse us, Professor Birch," Dawn stated, standing up.

"Oh, yes, of course!"

Dusk bent down towards May. "C'mon, Wizard, you need to burn some of that energy..."

Wizard yawned, then clamped onto May's leg. "Pikachu, pika p--"

May giggled. "It's okay, Wizard. I promise that we can hang out later tonight, okay?"

Dusk picked the reluctant Wizard up. He counteracted by literally digging his claws into May's skin. She flinched in pain, but after realizing what it was, actually started laughing. After prying the mouse away from her, Dusk, Dawn, and Latias all left via the back door.

May chuckled, rubbing her new claw marks. "That mouse has seperation issues..." She suddenly glared at her father. "...And speaking of seperation..."

* * *

"What was that about?"

They weren't very far from the house. They had made it to a hill, and were nearly at its peak.

"The main reason I did it was to get out of the house...I want May to talk to her dad. But besides that...UGH! I needed to vent."

Dusk looked at his friend. Before he could inquire, a bright light shrouded Latias, somewhat blinding the other two until they finally looked away. When the shine faded, Latias was still in human form, but looked nothing like her previous incarnation. She now donned short, brown hair, a wrinkled, lavender shirt, and baggy black shorts. She also looked much closer to her age of six, unlike the previous 14-year-old body she inhabited. She hardly reached as tall as the humans' waists.

Dawn blinked. "...Latias? What was that about?"

Dusk chuckled, turning his eyes back to the grassy path they were walking on. "Looks like a mini-May without the bang things, doesn't she?"

Smiling joyfully, Latias ran to Umbreon's back and plucked Wizard from his perch. Holding him as high in the air as her smaller body allowed, Latias galloped forward, gaining a lead on the remaining two. Wizard was understandably confused at first, but finally came to terms and grinned. "Pikachu!"

It was Dusk's mind's turn to go blank. "...Well...I guess I could support that shipping, but I'm not drawing fanart of it."

His partner didn't reply.

He turned his eyes to her. "...Dawn? You okay?"

"I'm fine," she finally answered, rubbing her eyes.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Believe it or not, I'm not always a drama queen, Corsica..."

"Really?" He turned his eyes forward again. Wizard was now chasing Latias, possibly resuming their game of tag that they had on the island. "Good thing you told me, or I'd have never--OW!"

Reliving the good old days, Umbreon was smacked in the dead center of his face with Dawn's handbag.

He rubbed his nose, semi-fearful that it had been broken. "...Ow. Didn't avoid the Pokéballs."

* * *

"...Max, May..." Professor Birch sighed. He didn't continue.

"Alright, we got our names down. You can say something else now."

Dinner had come to a close almost immediately after the Sinnoh heroes left the home. May had moved up to the couch, but nothing changed otherwise. Both kids had their arms well folded.

"Well, I--! I...just don't know what you want me to say."

"Funny. Max and I got talking about that same subject earlier." May glanced at her brother, but quickly returned to her father. "Dad, we..." She also exhaled deeply to keep herself calm. "...We think it's alright that you and Mom are having problems communicating. We hate it, but it's just one of those things that we really can't do much about..." She shifted in her seat. "What we want to know is why you're being so secretive about it. How long has Max been home now? It's been atleast a week since I called from Veilstone, hasn't it? Max told me that the fight happened the night that I called. Why have you kept everything that you could from him?"

"I--"

"He told me that you always run from the subject. Like you've already done to me once today. Why is it taking me to finally get you to sit down and start explaining? And why am I just finding out about this now?!"

"May, I understand your frustration, but I've already told you the truth. We didn't want you to get upset over nothing, because we thought we'd have it worked out by the time we even saw you again."

May narrowed her gaze. "That's your excuse? And then I was going to live in denial of this for the rest of my life, never knowing that my parents almost split up? What makes you think Max wouldn't tell me?"

Birch turned his eyes to Max. "It...was...his idea not to tell you."

"UGH." May's face ran into her open hands. She rubbed her temples with her index fingers. "I thought you had my back on this, Max..."

"I'm sorry, May..." Max pushed up his glasses. "I just...didn't want to see you hurt..."

Silence.

"...You know what?" May's hands fell into her lap. "I won't even worry about that right now. I can get Max's side of this some other time. Why are you two fighting? What caused it? And, again, why was this kept from Max for atleast a week?"

Birch flailed his arms. It was rare that his daughter ever got so emotional like this, but even he figured that it was coming one of these days. "I...I don't know. It's just...things. They happen."

"So, wait. Let me get this straight." May scratched her nose, then checked her fingernails. "You...don't know why you're brinkering on the edge of divorce with Mom. Did I get that right?"

He thought about the question for a minute. "...If I say 'yes,' do--"

"No, Dad!" May retorted, the reflection of a small tear in her eye. "Why aren't you taking me seriously? Max is sixteen, I'm almost nineteen! Dad, we can handle hard problems, but not when you keep hiding them from us like this...It's beginning to hurt. Why don't you trust us?"

As Birch opened his mouth to shoot down the thought of him not trusting his kids, there was knock on the front door. The group looked at each other. May rubbed her eyes and got to her feet, though her legs were a little shaky from getting so worked up. "I'll get it..."

She walked over to the door. Despite her current emotional problem, any tears were well-hidden when she opened the door. Instead of a human, however, she was instantly greeted by a Torchic. It ran up to her leg and rubbed her head on it. "Torchic, Torchic, Tor...!"

"Huh...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" somebody panted, running in front of the open doorway. "Torchic tends to do that alot."

May looked up from her ankle to the person now standing in front of her. "Um...Hello. Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually. I'm looking for somebody named Umbreon, and heard that you know him."

"Um..." May replied cleverly. She'd always had a bit of trouble keeping conversation up with strangers. "Yes, we're best friends. He was here until a little while ago. May I ask why you need him?"

"Oh, again, I'm sorry!" The person offered a hand for May to shake. "My name's Johanne. I'm Umbreon's mother."


	8. A Call Worth Answering

"...Oh, hi!" May re-greeted. She cursed at her hideous luck. Since she couldn't be rude to her close friend's mother, she had no choice but to forget about the important family subject that the three had been talking about. "Would you like to come in? Umbreon just went for a walk, I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I would, thank you!" Johanne decided to throw in a smile for good measure. She bypassed May and entered into the house.

May's heartbeat suddenly increased when her mind turned back to the feathers being rubbed against her ankle. "Wait, then...Ionu?" She collapsed to her knees just so she could bring the young Torchic in for a hug. "Ionu...! I've missed you so much!"

"Torchic, tor. Chic?"

Whatever the question was, May didn't respond. She continued holding the warm Fire-type Pokémon close, snuggling her own cheek into her.

"...Oh, um, hello!" Professor Birch bounced from his chair and offered his hand to Johanne. "Any mother of a friend of May's is a...mother of a friend of our's?" He scratched his beard. "Anyways, this here's my boy, Max. Would you like anything to drink, Johanne?"

"No, I'm good, thank you." Johanne took a seat on the couch. When she set her large purse down on the cushion next to her, a pink cat peeked its head out.

"Nyaaaaaaa?"

"So," the mother started conversation, ignoring the Skitty. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Birch hid a smirk. Though, the silent, angry glare that his son gave him told him that he wasn't doing a good job of it. "No, not at all."

"I hope my son isn't being a bother?"

"Not at all, Johanne," the professor assured, his smile turning a little less mischievous. "If I may ask, what made you come all the way up here, Johanne? Umbreon was telling me that you live in Sinnoh?"

"Oh, yes. Well, I guess you could say that I was in the neighborhood. I was actually on my way to Petalburg, but thought I'd stop in and see how Umbreon was doing. Dawn is here as well, right?"

"Yes, of course. She--"

"So what do you do for a living, Johanne?" Max wondered with a strange amount of interest.

May perked her attention to the conversation at the sound of her brother's voice, but didn't do anything to draw attention to herself.

"Oh..." Johanne blinked. "Well, Max, I actually run my own radio program. I believe only Trainers that carry Pokégears can tune into it."

"Ah...I've been to Johto, so I've seen alot of them around. I'm quite partial to my Pokénav, though."

May frowned. "_Why would Max care about something like that?_" She turned her head back to Ionu, who was preening herself with her claw. "_Though, that does sound intriguing...Wonder why Umbreon never mentioned that?_" She couldn't ponder the thought for long. She heard a jingle coming from her zipped-up waistbag that she'd never bothered to take off through-out the day. When she reached inside, she gasped. "...Brendan?!"

Everybody else in the room turned their heads to her.

May quickly hit the receive button on the Pokénav and held it up to her ear. "Brendan?! Brendan!"

There was unbearable amount of static on the line. Most of the caller's words were cut straight out. "May...Petal...ty...Now!"

"Brendan, what? What? I didn't really get that! What did you--"

_Errrrrrrrrrrr._

She dejectedly lowered the Pokénav from her ear. It took her a moment after that to remember to end the call. "He...hung up..." she explained sadly. Before anybody else could say anything, she jumped to her feet. "I'm not just staying here. I caught the word 'petal.' I'm going to find Umbreon and Dawn and go to Petalburg. I have to atleast check." She turned to her family and Johanne and bowed. "It was wonderful meeting you, Johanne. I apologize for running out so fast. I'm also sorry for borrowing Umbreon. Since you're headed there anyway, find us in Petalburg City, okay?" Finally, she turned to her lost teammate. "Come on, Ionu! We got to find your Trainer!"

"Torchic!" For a blast of nostalgia, Ionu hopped up on May's shoulder. The girl didn't look at anybody else before blasting out of the house through the back door.

Professor Birch rubbed the back of his head. "Guess some things never change..."

Johanne stood up. "Please forgive me, but I think that's my cue to get going as well. I really need to get to Petalburg."

"Oh." Birch popped up from his chair and offered his hand to Johanne once more. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Feel free to stop in any time!"

---

"_It's nice that my Pokénav decided to start working again,_" she thought, half-sarcastic.

Though thinking, it wasn't slowing May down in the least. Her pace was as fast as ever, easily being able to rival Brendan's and Wizard's. Of course, she had a bit of inspiration for it.

Two tears lined her face. "_Brendan...I'm so glad to finally know that you're all right._"

"Chic, tor tor tor?"

"No, I'm really okay!" She rubbed some of the water away without faltering her breakneck speed. "I'm just moving so fast, the wind's making my eyes water!"

Torchic frowned. "...Tor..."

"Ionu...it's...so great to see you again!" She was beginning to pant heavily. "Wizard's going to flip, I know that."

Before much other conversation could take place, their targets actually came into view. It wasn't helping much that the sun was hardly illuminating anything anymore, but May managed to notice Dawn's hair beating in the wind. She increased her pace even more.

A little too much more, in fact. In the process of braking, she almost ended up tumbling on top of them. Dusk and Dawn each caught a shoulder and kept her steady until she regained her balance. Even after that, she still ended up crashing into the ground, this time from weakness. She landed on her knees, then bowed on all fours. "Guys, I--I can't breathe..."

"Take it easy..." Dawn demanded. "What's the ru..."

The glimmer of another pair of eyes set Dawn on tilt. After a moment of blankly staring at each other, the former spoke up. "Tor, chic," she sounded out blankly.

"...I...Ionu? Ionu, is--"

"TOR, CHIC!" Ionu harshly jumped off May's shoulder, actually injuring her a little. Either not knowing or caring about that, she quickly nuzzled into Dawn's embrace.

"How did Ionu get here...?" Dusk inquired.

"Later, please..." May stated, slowly getting back some breath. She weakly got to her feet, then brought a hand up to her now-hurting shoulder. "Guys, you aren't going to believe it, but Ionu's only half the news...Brendan called me!"

"What?!" Dawn shouted, peeling herself away from Ionu for a bit. "I thought your Pokénav quit working?"

Still panting heavily, May shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm not worried about that right now. It was incredibly hard to hear him, because there was a lot of static, but I think he wanted me to go to Petalburg City. I'm a bit worried, because he sounded...panicked, and rushed. That's why I'm hurrying. Where's Latias?"

"Latias is flying Wizard around in the sky..." Dusk answered, a bit worried about May's physical condition. "Are you...sure you're okay?"

"Please!" May begged, forgetting the boy's question. "Can you send up a flare or something? Would you two mind riding on her? If we traveled there on foot, we'd have to go through Oldale and alot of forests before we reach Petalburg, and we just don't have that much time right now. I'm begging you...I'm expecting the worst, and--"

"May, calm down..." Dawn counseled. She was holding Ionu at her waist. "Don't beg us! We're your best friends, of course we'll help you. Do you have something you can use to fly there? I don't feel very comfortable having Latias be weighed down with three people, letalone another two Pokémon on top of it..."

"No, that's fine. Let's go, Pelipper!" May hastily released a Pokéball.

A white- and blue-colored seagull emerged. "Pelipper..." it squawked through its unnaturally large beak.

Dawn blinked. "...What's that?"

May laughed. "Actually, it's somewhat humorous...When I got pushed off to Pacifidlog Town, I needed something else to help me fly back to the mainland, since Altaria was dead tired. I found this Pelipper, and we've just become friends since!" She hopped on to her unique ride. "But enough about that for now. I'll go on ahead. Please get to Petalburg as fast as you can! It's just a little northwest from here. We'll meet up there!" With a silent command, Pelipper took off, carrying May and itself through the now-dark sky.

"I...never imagined a day when May would use a Pokémon like that..." Dawn shrugged. "Anyway, how do you suppose we're going to get Latias down here? I doubt she can hear us all the way up there."

"Probably not...but she'll hear this." Dusk pulled the blue whistle out for the second time.

As before, when he blew in it, no audible sound was made. Yet, in the sky, Latias was piqued instantly. She screeched in reply, then began her descent.

It didn't take her long to come into view of the Trainers. She hovered two or three feet above the ground and howled once again.

"Latias, there might be an emergency. Do you know where Petalburg City is?" Dawn asked her.

She lightly nodded her head, then spun around, allowing the Trainers access to her back. Umbreon stepped forward, but Latias instantly cried out at the movement.

Dawn set a firm hand on Umbreon's shoulder. Not looking him in the eye, she reminded him of a small rule. "I'm first."

"...Right."

Dawn hopped on. Dusk took a seat behind her. Wizard jumped into Dusk's lap. And neither Pokémon knew that their significant other was about half a foot away from them.

Giving a last call, Latias elevated before ripping off toward Petalburg. Since her arm was wrapped, Dawn didn't mind the wind quite as much this time. It still had a small sting to it, but with what she'd already been through, she shook it off easily enough.

--

Both Trainers gasped in horror.

Their second Town in Hoenn wasn't as pleasant as they were hoping for. The Town had a Gym, and for one reason or another, this Gym had a gigantic searchlight on its roof. It easily lit up the majority of the Town at once. However, it did have help. Three buildings were on fire, one of them already being down in shambles. All this illumination was plenty to see intense action happening. Pokémon battles, assumed not to be friendly, were taking place all over the Town. Craters seemingly created by explosions, blood, and bodies were just a few of the other things that dotted the unpleasant neighborhood.

"We picked a good time to vacation here," Dusk noted casually, looking bored as he sat atop Latias.

Dawn grunted. "Latias, we have to get down there, fast!"

The Pokémon agreed. She instantly began a descent.

"Dawn, I'm going to drop down here!" Dusk shouted over the wind. "You keep going and see if you can find May!"

Dawn shifted her head and glared at him. "Don't you dare become one of those bodies on the ground, Corsica!"

"You're the one telling me this?" he wondered, though not loud enough for Dawn to hear him. Floating a safe distance above the ground, Dusk and Wizard jumped off of Latias and rolled on the ground, while Dawn and her two companions kept going.

"Never play a game without looking at the instruction book first, Wizard," Dusk explained. He put his hands in his pockets and decided to gather some intel before doing anything rash. "Unless it's Line Rider. I mean...c'mon. It's Line Rider."

--

Dawn looked from side to side. A countless amount of people were attacking the village, and nearly as many were there to stop them. Looking at the oppressors, Dawn folded her arms and huffed. "Geez, Team Aqua again? Atleast we pushed them back into their territory..." Her head tilted up. "_Then again...that means that they have an advantage here..._"

Latias suddenly got nailed by crossfire. A surprise beam of lightning was good enough to upset the dragon's flying patterns. With her ride weaving from side to side, Dawn couldn't keep her balance on it anymore. Hugging Ionu closely for safety, Dawn hit the ground and rolled on the grass multiple times. Latias kept going, disappearing from the illumination of the searchlight.

Dawn slowly got to her feet and rubbed her head. "Ow...headache..."

"Tor, chic Torchic?"

"I guess we'll just have to fight on our own until we can meet up with M--"

A huge, nearby explosion startled Dawn too much to finish that sentence. It also resulted in the complete obliteration of another house.

Heart still beating quickly, Dawn only got riddled with another problem. "Hey, girl, watch it!" was shouted from behind her.

Before she could even turn around, she was tackled back down to the grass. Not three seconds later, a chilling Ice Beam froze the same air that Dawn would have been standing in front of.

Digging her face out of the dirt enough to notice that fact, Dawn decided to pay her dues. "Oh, thanks..."

"No problem," was the masculine reply. He laughed while getting off of her. "You know, you sort of remind me of a girl that I hung around with in Sinnoh. She couldn't manage to stay out of trouble for long, either."

Dawn frowned. "Didn't know I had a stalker," she stated while also getting back to her own feet.

"Ha. Unlikely. Unless your name happens to be Dawn, I don't really think--" He froze when Dawn jerked her head to him. He blinked a couple times. "...Dawn?"

For Dawn, joy was too profound to show much confusion. "Brendan!!" She instantly threw her arms around his neck. "I've missed you so much!" She suddenly pulled her head back. "Hey, what do you mean, 'couldn't manage to stay out of trouble'?"

Like his female counterpart, Brendan also went green. His shirt was orange and black, with his long, baggy pants sharing only the latter color. Red gloves covered his hands right above his new black and green wristbands. His headband and new backpack were also green. Between his short sleeves and wristbands were a few splotches of not-very-decorative blood that'd been spilled during this night alone.

Brendan took another moment to figure the situation out. When he did, he laughed again and put his arms behind Dawn. "Well, then. What's up?"

"What's up?" Dawn echoed, neverminding her previous question. "What's up is that I'm glad you're alive! When May told me--"

Brendan instantly pulled back. "You found May? Where was she? Where is she? Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine! She said that--"

For the second time, Dawn was interrupted by a big bang. Brendan instinctively pulled her close to protect her. She didn't exactly mind the gesture.

When Brendan scanned the surroundings, he spotted an opponent raring to go. "All right, hug later, fight now! Oh, and explain later, too." The Hoenn Trainer backed away and grabbed a Pokéball.

A figurative lightning bolt hit Dawn. She bit her own lip. "_I hope Latias made out all right..._" She shook it off. She had other things to worry about at the moment. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out an insignia-marked Pokéball.


	9. Aquatic Ruin, Part 1

Ionu was the first to spot Dawn reaching for a different partner to use. "Torchic, chic chic chic!"

Dawn giggled. "I...just don't want you to get hurt?"

Ionu shifted her head to the side arrogantly. "Torchic." She hopped out of Dawn's arms and turned her back to the battle, totally uninterested.

"Sorry. I'm sure you'll get another chance soon enough."

Alexia, as their opponent was named, was dressed in typical wear for an Aqua admin. Her blonde, wavy hair strode all the way to her lower back, separated into two pigtails. The way she kept her hair reminded Dawn of a certain bounty hunter they had met in Veilstone, though the elitist grin Alexia was wearing revealed that their personalities were quite different.

While keeping her weight on a single leg, the Team Aqua member lifted her hand up to her chin. "Mm...So I get two to play with this time. Like what we've done with the place?"

"It's like Da Vinci became a contractor instead of a painter," Brendan replied.

"Spicy as ever, Brendan. You know how to keep a lady turned on."

Dawn scratched a small speck of dirt off of the Pokéball that she hadn't noticed before. "It's...implied by the fact that she called you by name that you two know each other. Right?"

"Yeahhh...I haven't had much luck being H2O-free the past few days, so Alexia and I becoming very good friends was, unfortunately, inevitable."

Dawn eased her standing, though her attitude remained competitive. "_Alexia? And Brendan's been attacked by Aqua? They've been attacking Hoenn, too?_"

"Well? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, too?" Alexia wondered.

"Her name's Liz," Brendan answered, throwing his Pokéball into the arena. "Liz Onya. Can you believe it?"

Unknowingly not unlike his lost girlfriend, Brendan was also armed with a new battalion. A strange, egg-shaped creature with floppy ears emerged from Brendan's weapon-of-choice. Its white- and blue-colored body, coupled with its zigzaggy tail were its distinct characteristics. "Azumarill!" it cried joyfully.

Dawn stood in awe of the two-foot Pokémon. Not as much the Pokémon itself, however, rather that someone like Brendan would use it. "...This day is so weird..." she mumbled to herself.

Brendan turned his head to her. "You say somethin'?"

Dawn shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Well, chop chop..." Alexia cut in, bored. "Better luck in this round, Brendan. What are we at? Four by now?"

That was enough to get Dawn a bit more talkative. "You've fought her three times? And lost?"

"Not all of them!" Brendan swiftly countered, having pride on the line. "Only, like...two." He scratched the back of his head. "What can I say? I need a break, and they don't seem to want to give one to me."

"_That sounds familiar..._" Dawn bit her lip, wishing to keep the subject off of May. "So what happened?" she continued, only paying a small bit of attention to Alexia releasing her two Pokémon.

"My buddy took 'em out if I couldn't manage." Brendan smirked. "Let these loons gain ground? In my country? Unlikely."

"_Buddy?..._" Dawn didn't ask that out loud. She didn't have much time to.

Another, much-less-harsh explosion far off in the distance marked the entrance of the opponent's Pokémon. A Walrein and Honchkrow spoiled the dirt beneath their flippers and claws just by standing on it. They looked at the Trainers, directly past Azumarill, with a confidence-shattering leer. Their eyes were heavily strained, nearly completely red.

Dawn narrowed her gaze. "_Something about them isn't right,_" she deduced instantly. She addressed her partner, though her keen eyes never left the Pokémon. She seemed to specifically stare at Walrein. "Brendan? Any idea why those two Pokémon are so te--"

"Whoops. Don't slip up, now." Alexia pointed at the sole Pokémon on the opposing team. "Walrein, Blizzard, Honchkrow, Dark Pulse!"

Brendan pumped his fist. "No time for that. Get your Pokémon out here, now! Azumarill, dodge the Blizzard and nail that Dark Pulse with Bubblebeam." A light smirk appeared on his face. "Seriously, Alexia. All this time, and you haven't figured out that you can't kill me that easily?"

The blue bomber's Bubblebeam collided with Honchkrow's Dark Pulse, easily negating one another. The howling Blizzard was sent flying past Azumarill and at the Trainers. Both leapt out of the way with ease, though an unsuspecting Torchic got quite a chill sent down her spine. When the move finished, she ran around in circles, shouting profanities.

In spite of the situation, Dawn found herself holding back a laugh. "Sorry, Ionu. Try to be more careful, okay?" Her giddy mood dropped as soon as she turned back to the intense opponents. "_This isn't how you were supposed to make an entrance_," she thought to herself. "_For some reason, I was expecting...I don't know. Something with pancakes, or something._"

Needing to get into the fray before another round of attacks went through, Dawn threw the Pokéball. Instead of the typical white flash, the creature was released in a shadowy black aura. It had the shape of a very obedient dog. Its fur was white, though its claws, muzzle, and tail took on a peculiar red tint. A gem lodged in its forehead, along with a deceptively sharp head decoration shared the same color. Its eyes were a brighter blue than the ones that the female Hoenn Coordinator called her own.

At first, it shot a sharp glare at its own partner. After a moment of studying Azumarill, however, it loosened its leer and smirked. "Sol, Absol."

"Azu...?"

Brendan's eyes were wide. Moments before he opened his mouth, his words came out of Alexia with great interest. "Oh, mm? Tell me, dear, where might you have found such a fantastic Pokémon?"

Soon before falling to naiveness, Dawn caught herself. She put the Pokéball away. "I actually think I found it somewhere near your HQ...Where's that at, again?"

"Oh, such a nice try. Brendan's trained you well. Honchkrow, Fly. And Walrein, you use Surf!"

Dawn took a step back, to which Brendan noticed. He turned his head to her. "Don't be too surprised. She might have bad taste in Pokémon, but she knows how to use them."

"R-right..." Fatal as it was, Dawn's mind wandered. "_Brendan's alot more...serious than I remember him being..._" She shook her head. "Starlight, Detect! You need to get out of there!"

"Sol," the creature replied quickly. Her eyes dimmed before letting out a blinding light. She suddenly pranced forward and leapt for a tall tree branch, sensing that the incoming wave of water wouldn't reach that high.

"_Starlight, huh?_" Though not as flashy, Brendan had already decided how he was going to play this turn. "Azumarill, Defense Curl!"

"You never cease to surprise me, Brendan..." Alexia folded her arms.

The Surf crashed down. Starlight avoided it by doing nothing atop the high platform. Azumarill coiled into a ball before getting drenched. The defensive maneuver helped slightly, though the Pokémon's resistance to Water-type attacks was what made the move hardly faze Azumarill.

"Now go, Azumarill! Dawn, get my back!"

"Uh...okay!" she responded in spite of having no clue what to do or what was coming.

Still in a ball formation, Azumarill started rolling on the ground. Its pace eventually became so fast that it would easily bowl over anything in its way. Having minimal, but enough control over itself, Azumarill curved to the side and did a sideways u-turn. It ramped up an unprepared Walrein and launched itself into the air. It crashed into the airborn Honchkrow and, from the element of surprise alone, managed to drive the bird into the ground.

Walrein didn't like the maneuver. It instinctively launched an Aurora Beam at Azumarill. Atleast, started to. The fact of being in a gigantic spotlight not faltering her determination, Starlight somehow sneaked up behind Walrein and handed a well-aimed Night Slash to it. It didn't like that very much, either. Valiantly clawing through the pain, the seal spun around and shot Starlight with a speedy Powder Snow. The wolf was forced to bow down to the mighty winter's fury. After getting a moment to recover, Starlight returned to her Trainer's side by psyching Walrein out with Double Team. The clones instantly dispersed, and Starlight hopped backwards until she was standing in front of her Trainer again.

"Phew...thanks." Brendan put his hands on his hips and sighed. "That Honchkrow's got more power than for its own good. One attack from that thing, and you're pretty much done. Especially if it attacked you, since Absol doesn't have too great defenses..." He scratched the back of his head, trying to avoid Dawn's gaze. "Speaking of which, where, uh...where did you find that thing, anyway?"

Dawn's anger built up. "I can tell you stories of where I found a single Pokémon, but you don't have the time to explain why this entire town is under attack?!"

He chuckled. "Good point. All right, Azumarill, c'mon now! Ice Punch, keep Honchkrow dancing, go, go, go!"

The girl next to him quieted back down. "_...I wonder if it has something to do with Azumarill? I've never seen Brendan fight like this before. He's so...excited. It's odd seeing him without a cool head._" She pointed at Walrein blankly. "Quick Attack!" Her arm fell back to her side. "_He's still thinking rationally, but it..._" She mentally sighed, not caring how pointless it was to do so. "_I guess I need to worry about myself right now._"

Azumarill bravely launched unsuccessful Ice Punches after unsuccessful Ice Punches at Honchkrow. The Dark-type bird evaded the onslaught by jumping backwards, flapping its wings to further push itself away. When available, Honchkrow took a sudden shot at Azumarill with Drill Peck, which was just barely dodged.

Starlight, meanwhile, was prowling around Walrein. The opponent had surrounded itself with efficient spikes, created with chunks of ice. Such an obstacle made it impossible for Starlight to near with a physical attack. When she tried shooting Razor Winds, Walrein quickly stopped them with a Water Pulse. Frustrated, Starlight shifted her eyes for a moment. They landed on Honchkrow. She turned her head back to smirk at Walrein, then bolted after its teammate.

She returned to her Trainer's original command. Picking up the necessary speed for a solid Quick Attack, Starlight leapt through the air, above Azumarill's head, but low enough to tackle Honchkrow. The Pokémon had been busy dodging Ice Punches and didn't even see Starlight coming, much less get out of the way.

Starlight hopped off Honchkrow and jerked her head to Azumarill. "Absol, Absol, ab!" she barked.

Running forward, Azumarill charged up a grand Ice Punch. It gave it to the stunned Honchkrow in the form of a frigid uppercut. The bird was blown into the air by the very effective attack. It plummeted into the earth, not an ounce of strength left to call its own.

Azumarill grinned at Starlight, thankful for stalling Honchkrow for the needed second. The wolf shook its fur, then returned the grin with her infamous smirk.

"Mm...Teamwork..." Alexia recalled the fainted Honchkrow. "Not really my thing, but if it works for you, go for it. Parasect, your turn!"

Mercilessly replacing the last teammate, an orange Bug-type Pokémon stood in place. It raised a leg at its familiar white-haired rival. "Sect, Parasect!"

Brendan ran a hand through his hair. "Gah. I hate that thing." He lifted up his own Pokéball. "We're going to have to back off for now, Azumarill. Return."

The aquarabbit Pokémon vanished in a beam of red light. Starlight rubbed her head affectionately on her Trainer's legs, awaiting a command.

Dawn blankly looked at her human teammate. "Um, should I switch too, then?"

"Nah," Brendan answered, tapping his Pokéballs while mentally running down a list of what was in them. "I just didn't need Azumarill to get nailed with a Giga Drain, which that thing knows how to use, trust me. We'll need it later, anyway. 'Zu loves fighting another one of Alexia's Pokémon. Now, time to get rid of two more problems. Metagross, you're up! Get in there now with a Bullet Punch!" Not even taking it off his belt, Brendan released his second Pokémon.

Metagross pounded its two front legs together. "Meta." The Pokémon of old hovered speedily towards Walrein. The target couldn't pull off a Blizzard before getting socked in the face with a super effective jab.

Alexia frowned. "You should know by now that using Metagross is cheating! Especially with a cheap move like that. Hmph!"

Naturally, Brendan's frown was upside down. "I fail to see how its my fault that you're team can't counter it."

"Or maybe you just fail! Parasect, Sleep Powder! Walrein, hang in there and fire another Blizzard!"

Instinctively, the forgotten Ionu hopped to her feet and ran behind Dawn's leg. "Torchic, Torchic!" she shouted back.

Ignoring the cry, Dawn took initiative. "Brendan, make sure that Sleep Powder stays out of my way!" Again, she pointed at Walrein, though with a bit more command behind her action this time. "Sorry to be rude, but Me First!"

Before anybody could blink, Starlight was past the battlefield and standing directly in front of Walrein. Her tail was touching the tip of Walrein's face. After a moment of emptiness, she swung around and chopped at Walrein's neck with her sickle-shaped growth. The seal was frozen in pain for only a moment before losing consciousness. The Absol furthered the distance from herself and Parasect to avoid any stray Sleep Powder spores. Metagross also hovered away, allowing the attack to float worthlessly to the ground.

"Yeah, that's teamwork!" Brendan shouted, throwing a hand in the air. "My favorite, too. The type that I don't have to do anything."

Dawn kept her focus high. She was trying to figure out how to take advantage of Starlight's position, who was still conveniently close to the opponent's Pokémon. However, when Parasect crawled over to take a Slash at Starlight, she dodged and quickly made her way back to her Trainer. "_Ah, well. Doesn't matter much._" Dawn took her Pokédex out and aimed it at Starlight.

"The tables sure can turn pretty quickly, eh, Alexia? To think, you've barely hit either of us yet..."

"...Hmph. This is useless. That damn girl just had to find one of our strongest Pokémon, didn't she?" She recalled both of her Pokémon into their homes. After she put them away, she blew a quick kiss towards Brendan. "Looks like we're all tied up...though, you did cheat during this match, so it doesn't really count. Anyways, fret not. You'll be seeing me around often enough."

Startling Dawn, Alexia backflipped until she was a decent distance away. She ran until she finally disappeared from their view.

"Ugh...Nothing bugs me more than her. You know that?" Somewhat disgusted, Brendan got Metagross back into its Pokéball. "You doing all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Dawn giggled, putting her Pokédex away. She bent down on a knee and petted a panting Absol. "Poor Starlight's a little tired from kicking too much butt..."

The Hoenn Trainer glanced around the battlefield for a minute. Though plenty of damage had been done, it appeared that victory was soon to be obtained. "Dawn, you know I'm still buzzing with questions, but we should do that in a safer place. It looks like the resistance is winning, so do you want to get back out there?"

"Of course..." Dawn recalled Starlight. "Your pick on which direction we go."

"C'mon, I see some action over here." Brendan dashed off past Dawn.

After grabbing an apathetic Ionu, Dawn followed.

--

"Ugh...When will you drop it?!"

"When you finally realize that there's no need to kill all these Aqua grunts. I couldn't agree with you anymore that they're all slime, but that isn't a proper punishment for them!"

"Who cares if it isn't proper? It's fun."

"Don't give me crap like that, Silver..."

Halfway before reaching the area that he had decided to check out, Brendan was stopped by Dawn, who led him over to this feud. They entered on the sidelines, only to see hero fighting against anti-hero. On the female's side was a glistening Starmie, while a Dragonite defended the other Trainer.

The combatants turned their heads. "Dawn!" Key shouted. "Long time no see. What's it been, a day? What are you doing here?"

Silver huffed. "If it isn't the Latias fangirl. I thought you and the Pikatard were going back to Sinnoh."

"We decided that we needed to see your smile one last time, Silver," Dawn responded, her eyes turning to the splint on Silver's wrist. Satisfied with the fond memory of the cruel boy getting put in his place, she turned to Key. "What's going on?"

Key turned back to the rival's Dragonite. "What's going on is something that was bound to happen. I'm sick of Silver's method for dealing with Aqua, so I'm putting an end to it."

"You couldn't end a sentence." Silver pointed at the ten-winged Pokémon opposite of his own. "Dragonite, Hyper Beam!"

With a mighty huff, Dragonite released a blinding beam at Starmie. The Water-type dodged to the left, but not far enough. A sliver of the attack nailed Starmie, sending it twirling around a bit. It quickly recovered and returned to facing Dragonite.

"Ladies, please!" Brendan took a step forward. "I have no idea what's going on here, but considering neither of you are in Aqua suits, we really don't have time for this right now. Can't we finish mopping the sailor scouts up, then return to this?"

Key eyed the man up and down for a moment before turning to Dawn. "Who's he?"

Dawn succeeded in lifting her numb hand up to Brendan's shoulder. "He's a very good friend of mine who happens to be right. I know you two can't stand the sight of each other, but can't we work past that for just a little while longer?"

Silver shifted his head back to Key. "...I'm going to go with 'no.' Dragonite, Hyper Beam, and this time, hit--"

"Hold it!" Key quickly interrupted. After catching the flustered expression on Silver, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a portable phone.

Silver folded his arms. "Oh, of course. What's a teenage girl without a cellphone?"

Dawn gave the boy an angry leer that wasn't received, but didn't say anything.

Key tapped a button and lifted the object to her ear. "What?" she greeted.

"Hope your friend there doesn't work at any toll-free numbers," Brendan leaned over and whispered to Dawn.

The gray-haired girl's eyes suddenly enlarged. "What?! I'm in the middle of taking our problem out now. Dangit, this better be good."

"_Problem...?_" Dawn glanced at Silver. "_Him? He's annoying, but..._"

"Ugh..." She exhaled a long sigh. "I apologize. Whatever. Fine. I'm returning now." As her phone fell back into her pocket, a Pokéball was raised in her other hand. Starmie vanished in a beam of red light. "Do whatever you want for now, Silver. But don't think this is over."

Silver held the bridge of his nose. "Let me get this straight. You're running away?"

Key didn't let the insult get to her. She flipped around to the other direction and bolted.

"Coward. She's more pathetic than what I thought she was." Silver, frustrated that he couldn't put the so-called annoying girl in her place, recalled Dragonite. He walked over to the half of Team Missile. His demonic eyes pierced both of them at regular intervals. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Wasn't so bad," Brendan replied, instantly catching on that this guy wasn't to be trusted. "A little short, but not too bad."

"I agree." Silver set his sight on Dawn. "You. Why are you still getting in my way?"

Dawn, slight fear emanating from herself, took a step back. "I'm helping my friends and fighting alongside Key! What's it to you, anyway?"

"Valiant." His eyes turned to the older male. After scanning him for a few moments, Silver showed one of his disturbing grins. "Is this prize one of your so-called 'friends'?"

"If you got a problem with me, I'd love to hear about it," Brendan stated, fists clenched.

"I'd rather kill something. Atleast that would be productive." He turned to walk away. "Here's the deal, friends. Nobody asked you to fight Aqua. I'm doing plenty fine on my own giving them something to worry about. When--"

"You're wrong, there, 'friend," Brendan interrupted. "You want to know who asked us to fight Aqua? Aqua did." He pointed to a pile of shambles, which was once a very expensive home. "You want to know when they asked us to do that?"

"Not really."

"When they blew that house up," Brendan answered anyway. "That's when the neon lights surrounding the 'come beat the crap out of us' sign lit up."

"I'm touched. No, really." He finally started movement, which was towards a small group of idle Aqua thugs. "Keep the stupid girl and her French servant on a leash. I don't want to see any of you again."

Brendan let out a deep breath. "Remind me to invite that guy to my birthday party, would you?"

"Brendan?" Dawn gulped. "That house...Was it yours?"

Brendan scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...It's fine. Nobody was in there, and they haven't gotten to the Gym yet, which is more important anyway. Right now, c'mon! We need to get back out there!"

"R-right..."


	10. Aquatic Ruin, Part 2

Been quite some time since I've done an A/N, hm?

More than anything else, I felt the need to thank three of my latest reviewers.  
Jeff, of course, for staying with me through it all (my apologies for being slightly average last chapter, though).  
Kashiko-Chan for actually inspiring me to get this stupid story updated.  
And TimeBender, who constantly reminds me of the many plot holes that this story has. Haven't gotten around to it yet, but I plan on dignifying everything that you brought up the best that I can. S-somehow.

Now that I'm done with the sappy thank-yous, it's time to move to the sappy apologies. Chapters lately (at least this one and last) have been short, and at least in regards to this one, seemingly quite rushed. Instead of boring everybody with my long-winded tale, I'll just request that you hang on until we get out of Petalburg. If all my fancy calculations are correct (read: guesses), then things should be on an uprise from there. Of course, I can't do much of anything past this chapter until a bit of editing is done...But, that's my problem, not yours. Please, enjoy the chapter at your leisure.

----------

"Chuuu, Pika pika Pikachu. Pika pika. Pi ka chu. Ka, pika chu, pi, Pi Pikachu, pika?"

Dusk yawned. "I have no idea what you just said, but probably."

"Pika..." Wizard slapped himself in the face. "Pikachu. Chaa pika pi?"

"Oh. Yeah, I think so. Why didn't you just say that the first time?"

Wizard rubbed his eyes. "Piiika..."

Dusk hadn't had too much luck doing anything. Either people were already fighting any grunt that he came across, or there were too many for him to take on at once. Ignoring the former and sneaking by the latter, he continued walking through the utter destruction that was Petalburg City.

As Wizard opened his mouth to speak again, his Trainer instantly shushed him. He ran behind a small tree that they were nearing. Peeking over its side, he spotted a spruced-up Aqua member behind a barn that was rather close by. It was so close, he could conveniently hear half of the entire conversation that she was having over the phone. The barn shielded most of the light from the Gym's spotlight and the fires, so while it wasn't impossible to see, it was a decent place to hide.

"Those worthless Team Rocket punks were supposed to guard that Absol. I knew that we shouldn't have trusted them with a mission that important." A moment passed by. "Oh? I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know. In either case, we need to get that Absol back."

Dusk looked at Wizard, who returned it. They went back to the Aqua.

"No, unfortunately. Brendan and some annoying friend of his got in my way."

Once again, Trainer and Pokémon shot a glance at each other, this time with much more curiosity.

"I tried to fight them off, but ended up needing to retreat. I only have two more usable Pokémon."

Dusk suddenly started making a half-circle with his finger. Wizard understood what it meant, hopped off the boy's shoulder, and crawled away. Dusk, tipping his beret a bit, came out from behind the tree, and headed for his next opponent.

"What? No, it wasn't that other friend of his. This was some stupid girl."

He quieted his walking.

"I don't know. He said her name was Liz or something. All I know is that her hair was this annoying color of blue. Trust me, she did not look good in it...Huh? Oh, some skimpy, black outfit."

"Excuse me."

The woman turned around. She laid eyes on Dusk. Equipping a sweet smile, she covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her other hand. "Yes, dear?"

"I was wondering if you had the time," he answered, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Oh, well, let's see..." She glanced at the screen of her phone. "Just past 7:30, dear."

"No, no...You see, I was hoping you had the time for a small dance." Dusk brought a hand out of his pocket and grabbed one of the familiar orbs that hung from his belt. "I've been practicing a lot of moves, but have nobody to use them with."

The woman brought the phone back up to her ear. "...I'll call you right back." Flipping the phone shut, she glared at the boy. "So what takes you away from killing people...Umbreon, was it?"

Dusk growled. "Don't start with me..."

"Oh...Did I hit a nerve? I must ask how you don't like talking about killing people, but have no problem doing it?"

The long dormant flames inside Dusk's eyes flared up. "Shut up, Aqua peon..."

"Oh, dear, you insult me!" She brought a hand up to her mouth and laughed. "The name's Alexia, dear. I happen to be at the top of the food chain when it comes to Aqua."

Dusk looked behind himself, searching everywhere for something.

Alexia blinked. "Uhm...What are you doing?"

"Looking for somebody that cares about what you just said..." He finally turned back to face her. "Nope, nobody." He expertly slipped the Pokéball back onto his belt, and instead ripped off the other one. "You're going down, and it's going to happen quickly. Eat her alive, Moonite..."

"Ooh, I'm being threatened by the big, scary Umbreon! Somebody, please help me!" she cried dramatically, before being unable to stop herself from laughing again. "Please forgive me, dear. I'm not in much of a mood to fight at the moment. Could this wait until later?"

Moonite, seeing Hoenn for the first time in his life, roared at an ear-bleeding volume. The vents that were ringed around his neck exploded in fiery rage, which instantly illuminated the entire area for a few moments.

By the time the entrance had calmed down, Dusk still didn't have much emotion on his face. "Does that answer your question?"

"Unfortunately, no." Alexia turned to her side and attempted to run. Three steps in, however, a mouse crackling with electricity glared at her.

"Pikaa pi," the mouse said blandly.

She quickly jerked her head to the boy. A smirk was on his face.

"I like to plan ahead."

Alexia continued shifting her head. She found her last direction out to be completely unguarded. "Don't think you planned far enough ahead."

As she turned to run in that direction instead, footsteps could be heard barreling down the roof of the barn. Both Trainers turned their heads up. By the time their eyes focused on the figure, however, he'd already jumped down, blocking Alexia's remaining exit.

"Well, Alexia," the boy, using a rather cocky voice, began. "Fancy meetin' you here, huh?"

She fumbled back a step. "Aw, crap, not you..."

The boy looked to be about the same age and height as Brendan was. Covering his sleek body was a loose red pullover with a large white pocket in the lower front. Equally casual were his yellow and black shorts. On top of his head was a goldenrod-colored baseball cap, turned backwards, which covered a chunk of his unkempt black hair.

"You always know how to make a guy feel loved!" Eyebrows raised, he turned his head to the side and spotted Dusk. He lifted a hand up with the motion of a wave. "Hey, bro!"

Umbreon didn't reply. Wizard was eyeing the young man, but couldn't sense anything very hostile about him.

"Ugh..." Alexia scowled. "I already know that I can't outrun you."

The boy beamed. "Nope! That's one good thing about you Aquas! You sure learn fast!"

"Fine. If it's a battle you punks want, it's what you're going to get! Get over there to your 'brother' already..."

"Will do." Throwing his hands behind his head, the boy whistled a tune while casually stepping over to Dusk. When he arrived, he offered the boy a hand. "'Sup? The name's Gold! Guess we're partners, huh?" he asked cheerfully.

Dusk didn't return the smile, though he accepted the hand. "Dusk. I can't say too many people have actually asked to be my partner lately."

Gold's eyes popped open. "Huh? Oh, you mean because of that imposter thing? Nah, man. Brendan's told me all about you! You're cool, dude."

"Brendan? You know him?"

"Oh, suuure! But, hey, we can hang out later, a'ight? Right now, we got us a water spillage to take care of." He got to the side of Dusk and searched through his full roster of Pokémon.

Dusk gave a quick whistle. Wizard came bolting back to him, smirking quickly at Moonite as he ran by. "Pika pi?" he asked after climbing onto his Trainer's shoulder.

"Perfect job," he complimented, giving the Pikachu a quick rub on the top of his head.

"Aww, man, sick Pikachu you got there! Reminds me of the Pichu I used to have..." Gold stated, his voice starting to get a little dreamy.

Dusk's eyes turned towards Gold, though his head didn't follow. "_People these days just don't have very common names, do they? When was the last time we ran into a Jeff? Or Lucas?_" With the latter suggestion, the boy froze up for a second, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. He shook it off and returned to the battle.

"Can't believe I got myself into this..." Alexia whined, throwing her only available soldiers into the fray.

One was her previously-used Parasect. The other was a daring red- and green-colored insect. As Dusk lifted his Pokédex up, Gold brought a hand up to stop him.

"Don't bother. It's a Yanmega. Pretty speedy, pretty powerful, but has next-to-nothing on your Typhlosion. Watch out for AncientPower, but besides that, you're golden."

"_No pun intended?_" Dusk slipped the contraption back into his pocket. "I would normally just assume that you're a Yanmega addict, but I'm getting a feeling that you two have met once or twice before."

"Yup!" Gold proclaimed, tossing a pink- and white-colored Pokéball into the fray. The upper, pink portion of the ball seemed to have half of a butterfly wing painted on it.

"Ambi," the double-tailed monkey shyly introduced itself.

Dusk glanced at his partner quickly. "Ambipom?"

"Yup!" he repeated. "Them Sinnoh Pokémon are pretty whacked, but I'm gettin' the hang of it!"

"Let's get this over with...Parasect, Stun Spore. Yanmega, Air Slash!" Alexia demanded, knowing that the odds of winning this battle were stacked highly against her.

"This old trick, huh? Watch your back, Typhlosion, this one's tricky!" Gold warned. "Ambipom, once we're good, why not get a few Grass Knots up?"

Moonite glanced over his shoulder, curious of where the back-seat driver had come from. He turned to his actual Trainer, who shrugged. Moonite shifted back around and decided to play defensive until he found an opening.

The mushroom Pokémon launched thousands of yellow spores into the air with a single push. Hovering directly behind that attack, Yanmega flapped its wings mercilessly, causing a strong gust to form. The high winds almost instantly pushed the Stun Spore towards the opponents. Ambipom deftly somersaulted out of the way, while Moonite did a quick roll to his side. He accidentally breathed in a little bit of dander, but not enough for it to have an effect.

Smiling in its usual devilish way, Ambipom slapped the grass in front of itself with one of its tails. Not a second passed before a small portion of the lawn leapt up and swallowed Yanmega. A few threads of grass bound it tightly to the ground. Ambipom, armed with the knowledge that it took the Pokémon a moment to break away, pranced forward and landed a successful Double Hit, slapping the bug in the face twice before backflipping back to its Trainer.

Yanmega finally snapped the threads that were holding it down and took flight once again. It shook its head, recovering from the combination of attacks.

Dusk blinked. "You got this down to an art."

"Yup, yup!" Gold put his hands on his hips and sighed. "But, hey, why don't you take a crack at it? I wanna see how you took Giovanni down!"

"_They're toying with me...For Kyogre's sake, they're toying with me!_" Alexia, being downright frustrated, pounded a foot into the ground and pointed at the Fire-type. "I may go down, but I'm atleast taking your wolf thing with me! Parasect, Giga Impact!"

Dusk stepped back. "That thing knows Giga Impact?!"

"Yup!" Gold replied for the fourth time. "Pretty cool, right?"

The boy glared at his partner. "_This isn't the time to be complimenting her..._" he scolded, though keeping it to himself. He turned back to the battle and tried to figure out a way he could take advantage of the situation.

The energy that Parasect began charging up became visible. It shuffled its claws on the ground, impatient to charge at its unfortunate target.

"Let's fit a Flare Blitz in here somewhere, Moonite..."

Gold put his hands behind his head again. "I sense epicness ahead."

Without any warning, the Bug-type charged forward, crashing into Moonite like a train. The shocked Typhlosion could let out nothing but a small yelp before being thrust back into the thick forest behind him.

With the Fire-type gone, the field was shrouded in almost complete darkness. None of the wildfires that were spread around the town reached behind the barn, so the only illumination they had was the moon above.

Gold breathed in with clenched teeth, wincing at the scene. "Oooooh...Ouch. That one musta hurt."

Dusk couldn't move. The sound of Moonite whizzing by his ear was stuck in his head, freezing his body from any movement.

"Hey...Bro? You all right?" Gold wondered, noticing his partner's quietness.

Alexia let out a small laugh. A single one. The single turned to many. Before long, she was nearly doubled over with laughter. "Oh, my! How the mighty have fallen, hm? Serves your brute right, really. Yanmega, make sure they don't decide to take a cheap shot at Parasect while it recovers, would you?"

The evolved Pokémon buzzed. It flew in front of its teammate, who was well out of breath.

"Well, dear?" Alexia put a hand on her hip. "What say you now?"

"What say I now?" Dusk dipped his beret even lower on his face until his eyes were covered. He kept his forefinger and thumb on the brim. "I say, 'Wizard. Thunder.'"

Before Alexia had time to flinch, Trainer and Pokémon alike were all blinded by an intense bolt of electricity. Dusk was already shielding his eyes, but the other two humans weren't quite as prepared.

"Dah, geez, man!" Gold shouted, throwing an arm in front of his eyes. "I'm already red and green colorblind, you don't need to make it worse!"

"Sorry," Dusk said with a smirk as the lightning started to calm down.

A quiet, "Pika," was heard as Wizard hopped back in front of his Trainer. Though it was too dark to see what had happened, a large thud boomed across the small battlefield.

"What was that?" the boy's partner asked, rubbing his eyes from the lasting brightness.

Dusk couldn't stop a quick laugh. "Sounds to me like a six-foot bug just got the crap shocked out of it by a Pikachu. That's just a guess, though."

Alexia glanced toward the invisible silhouette of Yanmega. With a sneer, she jerked her head to Parasect. The Pokémon was still pacing itself after the massive Giga Impact it had launched.

She crushed the air in front of her hand as it balled into a fist. After hardly a second of managing frustration, she reached for two Pokéballs. A red beam zapped both of her Pokémon, warping them into their portable homes. "You little punks...I have no idea how much glory you think you just got from beating me when I was already at a disadvantage, but don't make me laugh by assuming this is over. You won't stand a Magmar's chance in an ocean next time we meet." She tore off to her right, almost instantly disappearing from the other Trainers' vision.

Dusk began bolting after her, but took no more than a single step before Gold held his hand out, blocking him.

"And after the cliché defeated villian speech, she dashed away," Gold narrated. "Dun' worry about her. She says that almost every time I beat her. Anyways, we got to go find out where your Typhlosion went, right?"

The boy remained unfazed as Wizard hopped onto his shoulder. Both of their heads were turned toward the direction of the forest. "R-right."

--

"So how'd you end up running into 'Lex?"

Both boys had traveled into the normally out-of-bounds forest. Only one hand was supporting the back of Gold's head, as the other was holding a bright flashlight. Dusk anxiously followed along, sometimes rubbing Wizard's chin to stay calm.

"Blind luck," Dusk answered cooly. "I was just searching for an Aqua nut, and managed to find the prize."

"Ah..."

Umbreon's head turned to Gold. "So what's your story? You usually run down roofs like that?"

Gold's head fell back as he laughed. "It's fun! That's the first time I've ever done it successfully, though. Ouch."

Dusk cringed, imagining what had gone wrong. He decided against questioning it.

"Sparing the details, though, here's the thing. Brendan was in a really big bind when we met up near Lavaridge. He was surrounded by goons, and his 'Mons were smoked. If you really want the truth, I wasn't having the best of times fighting them off, either. After gaining enough headway to get both of us out of there, we eventually bolted for it."

"So far, Aqua hasn't impressed me much."

"Yeah, no doubt," Gold agreed. "Still, though, Aqua wasn't the ones beatin' up on our bro."

"Hm?" Dusk jerked his head off the path and at Gold once again.

"Yep. There were a few oddballs dressed in red drags there. Didn't quite get what they were about, but I haven't seen 'em since, so who cares? Still, fact remains that they were tough as nails. Had to dig down deep to figure out how to beat them."

Not knowing how to respond, Dusk stayed quiet. The silence didn't last for too long before Gold turned his eyes to the boy.

"Hate to pry or somethin', but is something up? Can't help feelin' that you got something on your mind."

"No, no. It's just..." Dusk rubbed his eyes. "I came here with somebody, and we split up. I haven't seen her since, and she happens to be a little...accident prone, so I'm just a little worried."

"Ah." Gold spun the flashlight around, hoping to get a glimpse of Moonite. It failed, so he set it back on the path. "You know what I do when I get all worked up over something like that?"

"_This will be good_," the younger boy thought.

"Think about fishing."

Dusk blinked. Even he wasn't expecting something as random as that.

"See, I'm from Johto, right? You know, 'the land with that thing and that place in it'?"

Once again, Dusk's mind turned blank. "...Don't...think I've ever heard of it described as that before, but I've heard of Johto."

"Anyway, we got this grand lake over there. It's, like, huge. I could spend days sometimes, just sittin' there, fishing for Magikarp!"

"Magikarp?" Umbreon echoed.

"Yep! They're my favorite Pokes!" Gold declared with a wide grin on his face.

Before his traveling companion could question the odd choice, a shout was heard from behind them. It was clearly female, but sounded strained. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

They both turned around, only to immediately be blinded by a flashlight aimed at them. Forcing his eyes open to a squint, Dusk almost instantly recognized the figure. "May?"

The woman quickly lowered the light. "...Umbreon?" After realizing what the situation was, she dashed forward and didn't hesitate to initiate an embrace with him.

"Uh...Hello," he stated awkwardly, stunned by the sudden hug.

Before Dusk could lift his arms to her back, May stepped away to explain. "Sorry. Awhile back, I got...jumped. Literally. I shook the guy off and beat his pitifully untrained Pokémon, but when he had jumped on me, he sort of..." Her head shifted off to the side, her eyes slowly elevating downwards until she spotted her arm. "...landed on my shoulder."

With his eyes finally recovering from the flashlight, Dusk calmly continued. "Your left shoulder? It's still acting up?"

"Yeah...I mean, no! It's been fine. And it's actually okay now. I was just waiting until I was ready to go back out there." For once since the conversation began, May turned her head to Gold. She showed a small smile, which the boy's flashlight managed to reveal. "I'm sorry. My name's May," she greeted, extending her right hand.

"Huh?" He blinked for a moment before responding. After realizing he was being addressed, he grinned and took the hand. "Gold! 'Sup?"

"What are you three doing out here, anyway?" May asked, her eyes on Wizard as she brought her hand up to pet him.

"Moonite was on the wrong end of a Giga Impact," Dusk recalled.

"Is that what I heard?" she questioned quickly, glancing at Umbreon. "There was kind of a loud crash. I don't think it was too far from here." She sidestepped the boys and continued walking, which got the group moving again. "Again, sorry for startling you back there. I wasn't sure if it was some Aquas that wanted to do the same thing to some other Town."

Dusk noticed that her voice had been quieter than it usually is. Wanting to avoid the unnecessary apology, he changed the subject. "Something wrong, May? You seem a little out of it."

May chuckled lightly, stepping above a tree root. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to seeing so much...destruction, that's all. But I'll be fine. Atleast after I find out that Brendan's okay."

"Yeah! We're Brendan buddies!" Gold exclaimed, throwing a hand in the air for effect. "That son of a truck's fine. He may be worthless, but he ain't dead!"

Dusk and May shared a glance, both with confusion on their faces. "Uhm..." the female hummed.

After a moment, Gold took notice of the two. "...What?"

--

At the nearly-destroyed entrance of Petalburg City, a lone figure stood. What little of his rust-color hair that was revealed from under his hard hat blew in the thick wind. Above his loose-fitting black undershirt was a gray, unzipped coat. The sleeves had mostly been cut off, leaving it with a t-shirt appearance. His pants, which matched the color of his coat, were dug snugly into his heavy-duty boots. A white glove on his hand lifted his shimmering glasses up his nose farther.

"Blood? Destruction? Riots? Aw man, does this bring back the memories."

Fitting his hands into his pockets, he walked into the battlefield.


	11. Storming Through the Calm

"So there," Brendan stated with a commanding voice, looking down his nose at a whimpering Aqua grunt. "That's what you get for pulling on people's hair. Now beat it." He gave the Aqua a small kick.

He instantly rose to his feet and bolted away, nearing tears.

"That was a weird one, all right..." the victor noted out loud, brushing off his fingerless gloves.

Dawn ran her hand through the tips of her long hair. "Tell me about it. I feel so violated."

Brendan laughed while his eyes scanned his surroundings. The battle had clearly shifted in the favor of the freedom fighters. All of the fires had been atleast controlled, if not extinguished, and most Aquas had scattered, leaving only police officers and normally-dressed people running around. Since the illumination of the fires had obviously disappeared, and clouds were starting to roll in over the moon, people were forced to stay in the active spotlight that the Gym still spread all across the town.

He put his arms on his hips and let out a hefty sigh. "At any rate, I'd say we're pretty much done here. Famous last words, but I'll take the chance."

"Where's your dad?"

Brendan turned to his partner. "Hm?"

"I was just wondering where your dad was." Dawn timidly looked up to Brendan. "Since he's the Gym Leader of this town, I just figured that he'd be out here fighting, too, that's all..."

A serious vibe came over Brendan. His eyes returned to watching the destroyed Petalburg. "No, actually. Well, I mean, yeah, he's the Gym Leader, but he decided to go for a vacation. What a time, huh? I'm covered in who knows whose blood, and him and Mom are off sampling wine." He paused to clear his throat, though it was actually a successful attempt to calm his anger. "He left it to me to take care of the Gym until he got back, but I've barely been here for a day before...well, this started."

"Sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for?"

Dawn fidgeted in her place a moment. She rubbed a panting Ionu, who had fought in the last battle. "It's just unfortunate that this all had to happen. Especially when the Gym Leader's not even here to defend his town."

Brendan's fist locked shut. "...I'ma starting to wonder if that has anything to do with it."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"Forget about it. Let's duck inside the Gym and rest for a minute."

The Hoenn Trainer took a single step to start walking towards the largest building remaining in the city. Dawn caught up to him easily.

"Brendan, I..." she nervously began. "It's, just...your house. You've been cool about it the entire night, which is--"

Unsurprising to a member of Team Missile, a shout from behind startled both Trainers into almost tripping. "You."

They recovered and turned their heads over their shoulders. Brendan's mouth instantly twisted into a frown. "...Oh. You. Perky, was it?"

The cherry-haired teenager wasn't amused, as if that was anything new. Hands unusually placed inside his pockets, he walked up to the duo. He stepped on an unfortunate Aqua's body on the way over, but paid it no mind. His eyes were set solely on Dawn's.

It created fear in her heart, but as always, she managed to hide it well. "Yes, Silver? May I help you with something?"

"Indeed, you may," he answered politely, though his expression didn't share the kindness. "Your boytoy. I'm curious where I might go about finding him."

"You're going to have to be more specific..." Even Dawn didn't know how she kept a straight face during her sentence.

"Oh, you know the one," Silver continued. "Stupid hat, always carries dead weight on his shoulder, looks like he'd go good with a side of fries. Any bells yet?"

"...Nope, that doesn't narrow it down much."

Brendan broke down laughing. It forced Dawn to stifle a giggle, but she succeeded in keeping her face firm.

As Silver opened his mouth, a voice from his back interrupted him for a change. "If you wanted a hug, Silver, why didn't you just ask?"

He recognized the voice instantly. Shifting on his heel, Silver's face grew into a snarl. "Do all you people run on sarcasm?"

With a light grin on his face and a mouse on his shoulder, the conveniently-appeared Dusk shrugged. "Who was being sarcastic?"

Ready to whip out another snide comment, Silver inhaled. He quickly blew the breath out as his eyes lifted to see the tall boy standing next to Dusk. His mind instantly froze.

Tension soared to unbearable amounts as both Gold and Silver eyed each other mercilessly. May, who was on the opposite side of Umbreon that Gold was, let out a gentle cough, hoping for some sort of movement. She didn't get it.

Gold finally started reaching for a pocket. "...What are you doing here, S--"

Before he could finish the sentence, Silver turned to his side and bolted. Gold instantly gave chase.

Stranded together, Team Missile watched as the rivals raced forward at no less than fifteen miles per hour. Gold seemed to take a few tackle attempts at Silver, but they couldn't connect.

"Wow..." Dusk began. "The way they run kind of reminds me of--"

"Of Jun?" Dawn finished.

She never got a response.

After a few more moments of watching the other two disappear, May silently sprinted forward and threw her arms around Brendan's back. "Brendan, I missed you so much!"

Brendan couldn't reply. He was too busy bombarding May with kisses on the top of her head, then eventually on the lips. He pulled away for only a moment. "I did this with Gold, too, but it just wasn't the same."

Before she could figure out if that was a joke or not, another long kiss on the lips took May's mind away from the subject.

Feeling almost a little awkward, Dawn ran forward and into Umbreon's arms. He didn't kiss her at all, but he held her close, which was all she needed at the moment anyway. "Umbreon, I was so scared something was going to happen to you..."

"Said the person who fell off a mountain..." Dusk rubbed up and down her back quickly, hoping to keep them both relaxed. "How many times did you get hurt while I was gone?"

"None, for your information," she snapped back, somewhat angered that she had been stereotyped into being the damsel in distress. "I almost got Ice Beamed, run over by a Donphan, and got my hair pulled, but I've done worse."

Dusk blinked. Before he could question anything, a hand being placed on his shoulder interrupted the moment. His eyes turned up to see a friend grinning back at him.

"How's it going, Umbry?"

Taking a cue, Dawn broke out of the hug and backed away. She tried hiding a smile, glad that Dusk was being reunited with his other best friend.

Dusk slowly offered a hand to Brendan, his eyes never falling from his buddy's own. "...I was hoping you didn't forget that nickname."

"Good thing, right?" After shaking Dusk's hand, he roughly scratched Wizard's head before turning back around. "My vote goes to getting into the Gym and catching up with each other. All in favor?"

"I."

"I."

"Pika!"

"A'ight. Good enough." Brendan began the march towards the Pokémon Gym.

Dawn and Dusk took notice that Wizard and Ionu shared nothing more than a glance and small smile at each other. It caused the humans to look at each other before chasing after the Hoenn Trainers.

--

Instantly playing the role of the tour guide, Brendan was the first to open and walk through the large doors of the Petalburg City Gym. In contrast to the blinding light that the gigantic spotlight gave outside, there was hardly a light source activated at all inside the mansion-like building. A few small candles were lit along the walls, revealing golden-on-scarlet colored walls.

"Sorry about the floodlights in here," Brendan apologized, rushing through his dirtied hair with a gloved hand. "For obvious reasons, 'had to divert the power of the Gym into the spotlight that gave us a clue of what we were doing out there."

"Which brings me to a question..." Dusk raised his hand up to Wizard and lightly petted the creature on its head. "Why, exactly, does your Gym have a stadium-sized lighting fixture that extends from the inside of the collapsible roof?"

"Actually--"

Before he could get very far into a response, Brendan was interrupted by May slamming the Gym doors, seemingly as hard as she could.

Everybody turned to her, shocked at first, but dropped the expressions when they saw a light tint of red on May's face. "Sorry! The wind got a hold of it on me! Sorry!"

Brendan slapped his face while turning back around. "Guess some things will never change..."

"Hey!" May darted past the Sinnoh Trainers and threw a surprise hug at Brendan's back. She kissed him lightly on the back of his neck, the sound of doing so barely reaching Dawn and Dusk's ears. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked quietly, almost seductively.

The eldest boy purred as he shamelessly reached for May's hand.

Leaving the Hoenn Trainers to their questionable conversation, Dawn turned her head over her shoulder and stared at the door. She sighed when the wind continued beating on them, causing the outside semi-loose handles to rattle.

"Tor, chic?" Ionu questioned.

"What's up, Dawn?" Dusk asked, repeating nearly the same thing Ionu had said in English.

Dawn's eyes fell on top of the small bird as she brought a thumb up to massage its cheek gently. "Just...thought that might've been Latias, that's all..."

"Oh...You two got separated?"

"Yeah..." Dawn shifted her weight to her remaining leg. "Not long after you jumped off, actually. She took a hit from crossfire, and I lost my balance...So, yeah..."

Dusk had to guess what the last two words were. Dawn's voice was so hard to hear by the end of her story, he prayed that the last few words weren't important. "Dawn?" he began with a crooked smile. "She's a Pokémon, and a legendary dragon at that. I have a feeling that she can survive on her own for a few hours."

"Yeah..." With her head fallen low, she slowly stepped past Dusk, following after their friends who had finally started moving again. Her footsteps echoed surprisingly loudly in the vacant building. "You're probably right."

Unlike his soul mate, Dusk stayed still, watching Dawn's dimly-lit figure slip away from him. "...I don't even think she got that worried about me," he stated quietly.

"Pika."

After pondering things for a moment, Dusk began walking after her. He only made it a couple steps, however, before a consistent knock was made on the door behind him. "I'll--"

Holding onto Ionu tightly, Dawn dashed past her friend, nearly tripping over her own feet to reach the door as fast as she could.

The Hoenn Trainers, hearing Dawn silently interrupt Dusk, blinked. They decided against saying anything.

Dawn removed an arm from around Ionu and almost ripped the door open. "Lati--"

"Awwww, who wantsa hug?!" Before giving Dawn a moment to react, the visitor threw his arms around her back.

Brendan's eyes widened as the loud voice echoed inside his head a few times. "...Aw, hell, no," he whispered so only May could hear him.

"Go bang yourself, Roark!" Dawn cried, squirming her way out of his hold and safely stumbling back a few steps.

"Already tried. It's harder than it sounds." Using the candles to catch their otherwise-unnoticeable figures, Roark waved a hand at Brendan and May. "Hey, guys! What's in the north direction?"

Absolute silence. Roark scratched his cheek.

"...Uh, it means, 'What's up?'"

Brendan stepped forward, leaving May standing where she was. "It's really funny that you're here, actually. For awhile, I thought you got blasted off of Mount Coronet, but I guess my eyes were just playing tricks on me, huh?"

"Guess so." Roark temporarily took his glasses off to shine them on his shirt. "Life's weird like that."

"Truly amazin' that you managed to find your way here along with Dawn and Umbry, too," Brendan continued.

Roark snapped his fingers. "Irony."

"I'll have you know that the past week has not been my favorite, and you're the last thing that I--"

"Brendan," Dusk interrupted cooly, lightly raising his arm up to stop his nearing companion.

The usually-forgettable act earned him strong glances from the Hoenn Trainers and Dawn. Even Roark gave the boy a surprised look. "Yes?" Brendan wondered.

"...It's cool. Just let the woman stay."

Brendan's eyes shifted from Dusk to Roark and back again. His eyes stayed locked on the boy, spare a single blink. "...Are you serious?"

Dusk said nothing, though he worked up the effort for a small shrug. Roark frowned.

"Ugh." Brendan spun around. His legs carried him toward May, though he wanted to use them to kick Roark out of the building. "Impossible as ever, Umbry. All's I know is that ya'll just earned yourselves another half-hour long explanation on top of what you already had. C'mon, let's get into the dining room. I was going to take you to the spare bedroom, but ain't no way Roark's going to get any ideas."

The ex-Gym Leader let out a quiet snicker.

Everybody followed after Brendan. Roark didn't hesitate much to start conversation with Dusk, though. "You. Little boy. You trying to get on my good side?"

Safely hidden inside the shadowed hallways, Umbreon's face lit up with a smirk. He didn't say a word, however, so his foot-high friend, who was an expert at seeing in the dark, was the only one to notice the smile.

"If you are...Keep going. It's working." After setting a hand on his new "friend's" shoulder, Roark increased his pace, catching up to the leader of the pack.

A quizzical glance by his blue-haired partner didn't deter the boy's smile in the least.

--

Before long, the team of seven made it into the dining area. A long table, able to seat twelve, was the main decoration in the surprisingly-large room. Large-scale pictures of various battle scenes, no doubt captured from the Gym battles, hung on the bright yellow walls. Below each one was a small stand, every one of them being used to hold a vase of flowers.

Unlike the rest of the building, this room was very well lit. Chandeliers were the main light source, though an active firewood stack in the front of the room also helped.

"Cripe, Brendan, you're rich..." Dawn gaped, staring at the room that cost more than her entire home did. "If you don't mind me asking, what's with the table? Do you really need this many chairs?"

Brendan pulled out the nearest chair, which May instantly occupied. "Eh. I never thought so, but Dad always insists on giving meals to anybody that beats him, or atleast gives him a good battle. They're also nice to have whenever my brothers or sister decides to visit."

"Wow...You have a big family?" she continued.

This time, Brendan responded with nothing more than a chuckle. He pulled out a second seat and sat in it himself.

Dawn and Dusk looked at each other, the latter and his Pokémon giving the other a quick shrug. May, who was secretly eyeing their reaction, giggled, but didn't say anything.

"So, Roark," Brendan sighed as he pushed his chair back, causing it to balance on the floor on two legs. "Under the assumption that you're not going to knife us all, what brings you to this lovely land of ours?"

Unlike the Sinnoh Trainers, who had sat down on the opposite side of the table as Brendan and May, Roark remained standing. He tipped his hard hat upwards before folding his arms. "Good folks, clean air, and no recession. Any idea how hard it is to find a job in Sinnoh these days?"

A few minutes passed. May managed to run through a quick version of her story to Brendan, and the subject of Dusk's impostor was brought up as well. Roark finally grabbed the chair at the very end of the table, swung it around, and sat on it, leaning his chin on the backrest.

It wasn't long before Dawn fidgeted in her seat. "...I kinda hate to ask this, but does anybody know what it's supposed to do tonight? The weather, I mean?"

Brendan, Roark, and Dusk glanced at each other.

"Um..." May started.

"It was starting to sprinkle when I got to the Gym," Roark stated after a quick shrug. "And the wind's pretty nasty out there, too."

"I think it's supposed to storm tonight..." Brendan said thoughtfully.

"Oh..." Dawn lifted her arms up and dumped Ionu on the table. "Ionu? Could you stay here with Wizard?"

"Where are you going?" Dusk asked, eyeing the girl as she sat up from the chair.

Dawn grabbed her handbag. "I just...need to see something. It's kinda bugging me. I'll be back in a bit." Wanting to disappear before anybody stopped her, Dawn ran at a steady pace toward the door they had all entered from. She swiftly yanked it open and darted through.

The rest of the gang blinked. "Umbry? You know what she's doing?" Brendan eventually asked.

The main character rubbed his eyes. "Looking for Latias, I can only assume." May opened her mouth to speak, which Dusk instantly cut off. "No use chasing after her. I've learned the hard way not to get inbetween those two anymore."

The remaining girl frowned, but kept her trap shut. "_It's awesome that Dawn and Latias care about each other..._" She looked down at her knuckle and scratched it softly with her other hand. "_But...what about me?_"

Roark perked up. "Brendan's girlfriend? You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fi--" Her expression turned to anger. "I have a name, you know!" she shouted, a glare aimed at Roark.

Ionu kept her eyes locked on the shut doors. Her head cocked to the side. "Tor, chic?"

Much more time passed. After forcefully accepting Roark was a guest, Brendan calmly sat back in his chair and explained what had been happening to him. Due to the arch-enemy's presence, he left out a few details he had planned on sharing, but most of the story was in tact.

When asked how his life was going, Dusk glanced at his Pokétch. "Not to conveniently shift subjects, but it's after ten. Dawn's been gone atleast an hour by now."

Once more, Brendan leaned back in his chair so far, two of its legs jumped into the air. He threw his palms up to his eyes and rubbed them. "I might as well go see if I can find her, then. Don't play Truth or Dare without me."

Dusk cleared his throat as his friend pushed his chair back. "Uh, yo, Lieutenant? What are we supposed to do?"

"You can play hopscotch, if you want. You got some chalk, don't you, Roark?"

Roark slapped the side of his pants. "In my pocket."

Brendan stood up and took a couple steps forward. When his back was to everybody, he stopped. "Umbry, why don't you get out there too? We'll split up. May, I'd actually like it if you stayed here, just incase Dawn or La'dias comes back by themselves. Roark..." Pinching his own arm, Brendan sighed. "C'mon. You're coming with me."

Roark gasped. To lay it on even thicker, he fell out of his chair, landing on his side. "**I** get to team up with the **amazing** Brendan?! I-I don't know what to say! I would have worn cologne if I knew I'd be treated to a once-in-a-lifetime event like this!"

"...Might I recommend that you wear some, anyway." Brendan continued forward until he reached the door. He pulled it open and waited for his comrades.

Giving his female Hoenn friend a raised eyebrow, Dusk stood up.

After hopping on one shoulder, Wizard turned around and was about to invite Ionu on the other. However, he stopped and smiled when he saw how happy she was cuddling with May. "Pika pika," he whispered quietly to his Trainer.

Roark flashed a toothy grin at May before following Dusk out the door.

Now being one of the only two left in the room, May stopped hugging the Torchic. Instead, her eyes shifted upwards to Brendan, giving him a sad, almost worried look.

He sighed. "...We'll get a chance to be alone, May. Eventually."

Biting her lip, May silently nodded.

With a fist clenched, Maple walked through the door and shut it behind him.

"Tor, chic, Torchic?" Ionu questioned, glancing upwards at her previous Trainer.

May ignored it, and instead gave her another hug. "Wanna say hello to your mommy?"

--

"Umbry, head out that way. Me and my buddy here will take the western side."

"Pikachu," Wizard answered for his Trainer, allowing him to stay silent as he walked off in the eastern direction.

Without a word to said-buddy, Brendan turned in the opposite direction and started walking.

The rain was coming down at quite a speedy pace. Unable to easily obtain a couple umbrellas, the teams set off as-is. Considering that a quarter of Team Missile was on the line, none of them questioned the otherwise rash decision.

For a moment, Roark watched the shadow that he cast due to the still-active spotlight above the Gym. Getting yelled a sudden, "Stop that," by Brendan after making R-rated shadow puppets, Roark walked in silence for a moment. Finally, he threw an arm across Brendan's shoulders. "Be straight with me, B. What's this all about?"

"What's what all about?" he returned, angered at being touched by Roark.

"You know. Disguising ourselves as Batman and Robin, and--Dibs on Robin, by the way. Anyway, starting a search party for the missing Power Ranger, dramatically pressing ourselves against the harsh rain, and--"

"I was under the impression that leaving you alone with a really hot, exhausted girl was a bad idea," Brendan interrupted, unable to bear much more of Roark's sarcasm. "Besides that, I figured I could beat some explanations out of you."

"Oh, you hurt me, Brendy-boy!" he shouted, raising a hand to clench his aching heart. "I would never knowingly hurt...um..." He blinked. "...what'shername. She's important to me, I'll have you know! Do got to agree with you that she's a spicy onion, though. Anyway, what did you need?"

"How the hell did you survive Mount Coronet?" Brendan stated roughly, finally brushing Roark's arm off of his shoulders.

Roark flinched. "Whoa! Watch the language! C'mon, I was told that there wasn't any swearing at all allowed. Trust me, if there was, I'd be rampaging around worse than a black woman. Play by the rules, Brendy-boy."

"Shut up!" Brendan coughed, then rubbed some rain away from his forehead. "...And you know I could have added to that."

"The truth is, I really don't know how I survived," Roark finally began explaining, wringing out the hair that stuck out of the helmet. "I was obviously knocked out cold from getting a weed bug thing thrown into me at thirty miles per hour, and when I woke up, I found myself in what turned out to be Littleroot."

"Likely story," Brendan noted, refusing to take his eyes off the misty air in front of him.

"I knew I should have thrown the unicorn in there. My bad."

Both were silent for a few moments. Simply the thought of working with one of his worst enemies was enough to keep Brendan's mind off of the rain, which was beginning to come down even faster. "...What's more, I want to know what your connection with Dusk is."

Brendan could hardly get to the end of his sentence before Roark started laughing. "B, if you figure that one out, come tell me, would you? All I did for that little punk was give him some woman advice."

"You must know that better than anyone." The Hoenn Trainer's eyes turned upwards to the sky. "And quit calling me that."

When the two stopped talking, nothing could be heard except the intensifying rain.

"This is boring," Roark finally stated as they began walking towards a small forest. "Not only do we have to search all of Petalburg, we don't even know if that's where they are. They could have shot up some random route, for all we know."

"Don't know where I'd be right now without your votes of confidence," Brendan replied, pushing away some low-hanging limbs to get into the forest.

"I think the time would go quicker if we sing a song."

"Or we could, you know, not."

"C'mon! Everybody did it back on Mount Coronet. Did singing go out of style in the past few days?"

Brendan suddenly paused. He held an arm out, blocking Roark from continuing as well. "Roark, shut up."

"Wh--"

"Shut up."

"No, and you can't make--"

Brendan slammed a hand over Roark's mouth, jumbling the rest of his sentence into incoherent nonsense. Though highly tempted to continue talking, the Gym Leader finally paid his dues and quieted.

"...You hearin' something?" Brendan asked, tightly scanning his surroundings. When he didn't get a reply, his eyes shifted to Roark.

Roark grabbed Brendan's arm and lightly pushed it away from his mouth. "...What? I can talk now?"

"Nevermind. Just follow me." Hoping his mind wasn't playing an annoying trick, Brendan dashed forward, leaping over the dimly-lit branches and shrubs that got in his way.

They reached a clearing. Spotting three silhouettes in the distance, the Hoenn Trainer came to a screeching halt. The sudden stop caused Roark to bump into the back of him. Instead of getting angry, Brendan immediately shushed him and pointed into the clearing.

With the moon well-hidden behind crying clouds, Roark couldn't rely on his sight very much to see what was going on. Instead, his focus went into his ears. Tuning out the rain, the only other sound in the forest was clanging metal.

Soon before questioning it, the sound stopped. Roark's interest had peaked by this point. Turning his eyes to Brendan, he saw his commander silently motioning to get closer.

Still attempting to stay quiet, the two stepped out of the forest together and into the short clearing. Trimmed grass was the only thing that could be defined as scenery.

"...I see you haven't lost a beat, Silver."

Brendan froze. Instinct took over his better judgment. "Gold?!"

Both soaked teenagers jerked their heads to the shout. Silver, of course, was slightly dissatisfied with the development.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Brendan ran forward, and after a sigh, his partner followed him. "What are you two doing? Don't you know it's raining out here?" the white-haired male questioned.

"Yep, we got that much," Gold answered in his carefree way. "Makes for a dramatic battle scene, though! Preciousmetalshippers are going to eat this one up. By the way, Bren, mind taking the girl?"

"Huh?"

Hardly before he could decipher the request, an extra set of footsteps squeaked across the grass. Fast as her legs would carry her, she ran forward and leaped into Brendan's waist. She threw her arms around his back and cried on his chest, though he couldn't differentiate it from the rain.

Blood flowing to his eyes at an unhealthy rate, Silver narrowed his gaze at Brendan. "That **damn** dragon isn't going anywhere but with me!" he roared with death in his tone, lunging at Brendan with a knife in hand.

"Ah, no!" Gold managed to roll inbetween Brendan and Silver. Rising to his feet, he lifted an arm up. "You're getting confused with yourself. It's you that's not going anywhere."

"That's it," Roark stated, putting his hands on his hips. "When we get done with this, I'm drinking three beers and swearing up a storm. Mother Nature's going to wish she could create a storm as powerful as that one."

Surprising none, Roark was paid no mind.

"Latias...?" Brendan said to himself. Having her so close, he felt that her evident crying and sobs answered his question. "Gold. Mind giving me a quick rundown here?"

Gold and Silver stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Silver "hmphed" and turned his back. He walked forward three steps, folded his arms, and frowned. "You got three minutes. Talk fast."

"Coo'!" the cocky boy replied, turning around to face Brendan. "After I ran after Silver, he found that girl. For one reason or another, his eyes gleamed, and instead of focusing on running away from me, he started running after that girl. We finally tracked her down to this clearing, where she was completely out of breath. Then I saw Silver lift his knife up, and, well..." He grinned widely, lifting a hand up. Inside the fist was a highly-sharpened knife. "We decided to play Krauser and Leon. Not sure who's who, yet."

Silver shuffled on the grass. "I changed my mind. Thirty seconds. Talk faster."

"Anyway," Gold shrugged. "That's about the gist of it right there."

Brendan ran his hand through Latias's hair. Besides the stickiness created by being drenched, he noted that the hair's length shared much resemblance to Dawn's. Since it was so dark, he wasn't aware that she had taken the form of her closest friend. "...Good enough," he finally said, turning around. "Don't get yourself killed out here, Gold. Roark, let's go."

"More running? What is this, Baywatch?" With an annoyed sigh, Roark chased after his partner, who had already taken off.

With the other two gone, Gold suddenly dropped his smirk. His pupils shifted to Silver's dark clothes, which was hampered even farther by the darkness of night.

"Are we finally alone now?" Silver asked, twirling the knife around in his hand.

"Why did you change back?" Gold shot back, completely disregarding Silver's question.

The cruel soul didn't turned around. "What are you talking about?"

Gold began slowly walking around in a circle. He was hoping to cycle around to Silver's face, though he wasn't expecting to get that far. "It's been two years since we've seen each other. Silver, when I last left you, you'd finally understood how to raise your Pokémon right. Now you're back to the way you were before, if not worse."

"What would you like me to do? Repent? Wait for me."

"Silver..." Gold dropped the hand with the knife in it to his side. "Did us separating have anything to--"

"That had **nothing** to do with it!" Silver barked, instantly turning around to face Gold. "Don't you dare think that for a second."

Like Silver just a moment ago, Gold twirled his knife around for amusement. "...I'm starting to think it did."

Failing to say a word, Silver charged at the mysteriously-perceptive Gold. He attempted a predictable diagonal slash with the knife, which Gold blocked easily. He quickly recovered from the defense and attempted to stab the boy instead, but his arm was caught in Gold's hand.

Soaked bangs dripping water in front of his eyes, Silver stared at Gold like a wolf does to anybody on its territory. "It had **everything** to do with it. You told me you wanted a new start. Something fresh. Something exciting. I wasn't good enough for you." He smirked. This raised an alarm inside Gold, but he didn't react to it quickly enough. "But now it seems that I'm plenty good for you."

As one arm was stuck in Gold's grasp, Silver handed the knife off to his remaining hand and gave a vertical slice straight up Gold's mid-section. The blade sheared Gold's sweater and left a line of vulnerable, stinging skin.

Knowing that making the mistake of staying too close to Silver could be his last, Gold was forced to back off to a safe distance. He attempted to hold his punctured shirt together. His injury didn't enjoy being pelted by the rain.

"What? Got nothing to say?" Silver wondered, walking casually toward Gold. "Getting all misty on me? Please. Save the sentimental speech. I never 'changed back' into who I am now." As he neared his target, Gold backed off even further. It only amused Silver all the more. "The fact is, you're the one who changed me into something I wasn't. Without you there, I was able to change back."

Taking another step back, Gold realized that he backed himself into a tree. He looked on at Silver with a snarl on his face.

As he raised the knife up, Silver's expression only grew more psychotic. "...It's good to be me."

An ear-shattering bang blew through the small clearing. After recovering from the surprise boom, Silver realized he wasn't holding onto his knife anymore. He brought his hand down from the air, only to find it soaked in his own blood.

He shot a death-inducing glare at the area the sound had come from. "What is it with people always interrupting me just as I'm about to do something cool?!"

"It's a curse," Gold stated, not feeling very threatened by Silver at the moment.

By the time Gold finished that sentence, two footsteps could be heard distinctly over the crashing rain. Turning their heads towards the direction, they saw the shadowy figure of a tall woman. Smoke was still pouring out of the pistol that was held in her hands.

"Let me guess. That stupid Key, right?" Silver growled, holding the wrist of the hand that had been shot.

"Close." As the woman stepped closer, she adjusted her aim to stay locked onto Silver's red hair. "One thing you can call me is not a fan of yours. I've caught wind that you're the one giving Team Aqua a hard time. Put simply, I find that frustrating."

"So what? You like to play with the pirates?" Silver snorted, his cold eyes staring into their third guest's own eyes.

"Here's an idea. Why don't you run away with your tail between your legs, before I put a bullet between your eyes? The asking-questions thing isn't working for you right now."

Silver glared at Gold, who was still up against the tree. The latter boy shrugged, causing the other to growl and turn around. "Whatever."

As he was walking away, the woman pointed the gun into the air and pulled the trigger. A second bang crashed around the clearing.

Silver jerked his head over his shoulder. A woman with a beaming smile was waiting for him.

"Just making sure you're paying attention."

Now muttering, Silver continued walking away.

Gold coughed. "...So, thanks, uhm..."

"Call me Jo..." she replied, shuffling around with a backpack that was attached to her.

The boy got off of the tree and dusted his shirt off. "T.Y.V.M., Jo! So, what's up?"

"You're...Gold, right?"

"Huh?" His expression fell blank. "Uhh...Yeah. But how'd you know--"

"I was hoping you could do me a favor." Jo reached into the top compartment of her backpack and pulled a live creature out. "Would you do me a favor and deliver this to the kids in the Petalburg Gym, please?"

The stare that Gold was giving the creature in Jo's out-stretched arms was returned with an unknowing expression. "Nyaaaa...?"

"Uhh...Sure, I guess. Why not?" Understandably nervous, Gold took the pink feline away from Jo.

"Excellent. Thanks alot." Jo zipped the empty backpack up, then holstered the gun. "Well, I should actually leave. I got a few more things on my checklist tonight. Ta-ta."

"Uhh...No problem." Gold blinked. "Ta-ta."

--

"Ugh. Dangit, Wizard! Can you see anything?"

"Chu, Pika pika Pi."

Umbreon's adventure wasn't going as well as everybody else's. He had decided to explore the main part of the destroyed city, which, naturally, didn't have much overhead coverage. Not only did the rain never stop beating down on him, it also made sight a luxury that wasn't available. It was only a few minutes back that the gigantic spotlight above the Gym was finally turned off, which didn't help his case very much.

"Leave it to May to care more about the environment than me and Dawn..." the boy scowled to himself.

"Pika pi?"

"The city just got tore apart! I don't think there's going to be any neighbors calling, asking Brendan to shut the light off!"

Wizard giggled, finding amusement in his Trainer's short fuse. "Chaa, Pika pi. Pika pika?"

Dusk stopped walking. "...Could've been Brendan, I suppose. You think those two already found Dawn and Latias?"

"Pika," Wizard replied with a shrug. From his perch on Umbreon's hat, however, it was hard for the Trainer to see it.

Dusk spent only a moment pondering the thought. He soon turned around and backtracked. "Let's get back to the Gym and see if they're there. If not--"

"Pika!"

A slight breeze interrupted the eerie peace that Petalburg City had. It gave a chill to the soaked Dusk. He tried to ignore it and focus on his friend. His eyes turned up to the sky to see Wizard pointing in a direction.

He turned his attention to the spot that Wizard was highlighting. Glaring deep into the night, he spotted an abnormal growth on a tree. The tree apparently had other things on its mind, as it hadn't heard Dusk's shoes running up to it.

He froze in place when he heard the tree say three words.

"Berlitz...You knew?"


	12. Mind Games

"Roark, would you mind?"

"I'm not touching that!"

"It's a door!"

"Yeah, but it's your door! It probably has stupid cooties on it."

Needless to say, Brendan and Roark had made it back to the Gym. With a girl still tied tightly around him, however, it was difficult for the temporary owner to open the doors to the building.

The three were forced to stand in the rain until they got Roark past his 'Roark moment.'

With the devil appearing in his eyes, Brendan jerked his neck around to Roark. "Then ring the doorbell, ya' friggin' lil' idiot, and May will open it!"

"Will she be naked? Or atleast be in a French maid outfit? You know, I bet that beret boy has one she could borrow," Roark decided, scratching his chin.

"Ughhh..." Had they not been locked behind Latias, Brendan would have used a hand to rub his eyes. His head was still able to drop low on his neck. "Answer the door, Roark, or I'll snap your neck in more ways than you ever thought possible..."

"All right," Roark stepped forward and folded his arms. "What's your question, door?"

Before Brendan could rip his hair out in frustration, the door swung open from the other side. An unprepared Roark got slammed on the nose and pushed back a few steps. "What are you two doing?" May asked in a gentle, but tired tone.

Hearing the somewhat familiar sound, Latias pushed Brendan away and ran for May. She hugged her instantly, throwing her arms behind May's back. She wailed into May's chest even harder than she had Brendan's, though all of her crying produced little to no sound.

May was taken aback at first, but quickly recovered after realizing that the girl she was holding wasn't Dawn, despite appearances. "Oh, Latias, you're all right..." She put her arms behind Latias's back and held tightly. "...And...really wet."

May's head lifted from Latias's blue hair. "_What happened?_" she mouthed to Brendan.

"Let's get inside," he replied in his normal tone, anxious to get out of the rain.

"Sure." May stepped away from the open door so the other two could get in. The path behind her was revealed to be extremely well-lit. "Oh, I shut the spotlight off, by the way. I noticed it was starting to dim, so I just thought it'd be better to shut it off. Then the rest of the lights came back on by themselves."

"That's fine. Glad to see that the rest of the building's finally lit up, anyway." Brendan walked through the door, making sure it shut behind him.

Rubbing his nose gently, but comfortably, Roark frowned to himself. "Son of a b..." He sighed before pulling the door back open and following the other three.

--

"Daw--"

A huge gasp interrupted the boy. "Cripe, Umbreon, quit doing that..." was the tired girl's response after recovering.

He put on a tiny smirk, unable to help himself. "Sorry."

The rain: still pelting. The Sinnoh Trainer's positions: unmoved. Standing under the useless protection of the burned tree, both Trainers were nothing short of drenched by this time.

"Dawn, what did you just say? Something about Berlitz?"

Dawn was holding a creature close to her body, hugging it like a stuffed bear. Her eyes fell on its head. "Turns out, Berlitz has known...everything. My sis--half-sister, Mama's second husband...All of it..."

"Pika pi. Pi Pikachu," Wizard quietly explained to his Trainer.

After receiving a confirming nod, the Pikachu hopped off of Dusk's shoulder. He took one last glance at Dawn before letting out a mute sigh and scampering away.

"Where's he going?" Dawn asked quietly, not even being bothered to move her head. She didn't care much, but yearned for conversation.

"Back to the Gym. May should atleast still be there." Umbreon stepped forward. He reached the opposite side of the scorched tree that Dawn was resting on, and leaned on it. "Forgive me for not helping, but I need to fill in the most shocking revelation of this conversation to the readers...Why aren't you crying?"

Dawn equipped the smallest of smiles. "Just...taking your advice."

"My advice?" he echoed.

"'Ashley's always been my half-sister. Rowan's always been my father. Just, now I know it.' That's what you said, wasn't it?"

Dusk altered the position of the beret on his head, remaining silent while doing so.

"Just...throw another one onto that list. Berlitz knew all of it." Her head slowly craned to the sky. She blinked off any raindrops that rammed into her eyes. "So someone else has been hiding things from me. I'm getting used to it."

"Dreavus, Misdrea, Misdreavus..." Berlitz attempted to comfort, squirming in Dawn's grasp.

"It's fine, Berlitz," Dawn stated, though, between her head not moving and depressed tone in her voice, it was hard to believe. "I understand that you had your reasons..." She sighed. "Well, all right, no, I don't, but maybe I eventually will...Hey, Berlitz, it's getting a little cold out here. Why don't you go back into your ball?"

"Misdrea?"

"I'm fine, really. If you're that worried about me, we can talk later, okay?"

"Vus..."

Silence. Pounding weather aside, nothing but absolute silence could be heard. It was slowly killing Dusk, who had no idea what he was supposed to say, if anything.

"...You okay?" he finally squeaked out.

Dawn giggled as she stopped leaning on the tree. Her soaked bangs made it easy to block her eyes from sight. "Can't say that I've never been better, but I think I've been worse. If there's a silver lining in here, it'd probably be that atleast I know that Rowan wasn't lying to me. That, or Rowan and Berlitz are doing their best to drive me insane. They're getting close."

"You know that I'm--"

"You..." She walked around the tree, starting on the same path that Wizard had run up. Dusk was unable to see Dawn's face as she passed by. Little did he know that it was housing a content smile. "...You're the reason that they're only 'close,' Umbreon. Let's get back to the Gym. Don't need you sick."

"Um...Okay." Slightly stunned by her words, Umbreon got off of the tree himself and followed after the slow-moving Dawn.

"Is Latias okay?" Dawn asked after she was confident that Dusk was near enough to hear her.

"Not sure. We figured that you were looking for her, so I was a little surprised to see you by yourself back there," Dusk answered, keeping his eyes forward.

Dawn sounded out an understanding moan. "It's what it started out as. Once I thought of Berlitz, though...Guess I couldn't get the thought out of my head..."

Dusk turned his head to her. Her already-quiet words had turned into a single notch above mumbling. "Dawn? Are you sure you're okay?"

Dawn knew that she could no longer protect what she was trying to hide. Tears in her eyes and voice, she shook her head. "No. Not really, Umbreon."

"Dawn, I--"

Before he could raise an arm to start rubbing her back, Dawn suddenly shifted her casual stroll into a marathon sprint. Dusk was too stunned to say or do anything until she had already disappeared from his sight range.

"...I'll buy you ice cream, if it'll make you feel better." With a somewhat frustrated sigh, he forced his tired legs to chase after her.

--

"Hosnap!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

While in her blind dash, Dawn had succeeded in bumping into somebody just a few steps outside the Petalburg City Gym door. The girl had managed to recover and stay on her feet, but the victim was pushed to the ground. Not even bothering to hide her tears from the stranger, Dawn ran over to him and offered him an arm.

"Ah, no worries." He grabbed a hold of the petite hand, which only barely lifted him off the ground. "Thanks." Though the light sources were dim, he managed to study Dawn's physical features enough to ring a bell in his head. "Huh? Ain't you the girl that was hanging out with Brendan?"

"Oh, um...Yeah." Dawn scraped away at the farthest corners of her mind, but ended up with nothing. She was curious who he was, and even more so why he was holding a Skitty, but wanted to get into the Gym as soon as possible. "Again, I'm sorry about that." A sniffle was all that she let the person hear before turning away and heading for the Gym again.

Gold blinked. "...Weird girl."

"Nyyyaaa," the Skitty agreed.

With a shrug, Gold followed after her, but at a more casual pace.

--

Inside the Gym, the half of the team that was present still resided in the dining room. Latias was trapped in the chair between Brendan and May, purposely executed by the Hoenn Trainers with the hope that she would calm down. The plan had succeeded, quieting Latias down to only an occasional choke. Ionu was sleeping on the table in front of the silent Pokémon, getting softly stroked by her at the same time. Roark was on the opposite side of the table, leaning back in his chair, hands on his head, tapping his foot to a beat that wasn't there. His eyes were closed, since watching Latias cry bugged him for some reason.

"Thoughts on Umbry's imposter?" Brendan broached.

"Poor guy," Roark added, shaking his head. "He picked the worst kid to copy. Nobody will be able to tell me with a straight face that he actually wants to wear that beret."

Latias opened her mouth, but just as quickly shut it. May couldn't help but stare at her, wondering what she wanted to say.

Brendan rolled his fingers against the tabletop. "You didn't read the Terms of Service, Roark. Intelligent users only."

Roark worked the effort up for a shrug.

The Gym Leader was put on the backburner as soon as the front door got bashed open. Though there was another door blocking it from sight, all the Trainers and Latias turned their heads to the sound.

Soon, the second door was opened, barely any quieter than the first one had been. The eyes under the soaked blue hair scanned the room and instantly found her twin. May sprung up from her chair, but Dawn didn't even seem to notice. "Latias, I'm so happy you're okay..." Water began forming on the tips of her eyes. "Can I..talk to you for a second?"

Latias pushed her chair back and ran towards Dawn. She gave the dripping-wet girl a hug before sprinting through the door that was still open.

Ignoring everybody else, Dawn turned around and followed Latias, shutting the door behind her.

Roark loudly clacked his tongue. "Wow. Dawn's crying. Never saw that one coming."

May raised a hand to her chest and heaved a sigh. She sat back down in her chair and rested her cheek in her hand. The other arm stretched out to continue rubbing Ionu.

"...And May's depressed." Roark folded his arms and yawned. "Boy, you people won't change your personalities for anybody, will you?"

For a second time, the door leading to the dining room got smashed open. Unlike before, there wasn't a warning for it, so the crash startled everybody. "Hunny, I'm home!"

"Hey, G," Brendan replied without enthusiasm. His bored eyes were locked onto their newest guest. "What, uh...What d'ya got there?"

"Oh, this?" Gold held his hand up. "This is Skit-Puff! I named her myself. Still working on it, though." He began walking farther into the room. "Some chick came by and--"

As he neared, Brendan hopped from his seat, knocking it down in the process. He took a few steps backwards, which set him behind May's seat. "Really. Fascinating. Can you, uh...get that thing back in its ball, or something?"

"Uh...Huh?" Gold wondered blankly.

May batted her eyelashes, staring at the Skitty. She eventually turned her eyes back up to Gold. "Brendan's actually terrified of cats."

With his face quickly turning red, Brendan turned around and attempted to cover it up with his hand. "Oh, cripe..."

Roark, of course, took the opportunity to break out into hysterical laughter. "What? Seriously?"

"Whoa, really?" Gold asked blankly. "Oh, dude. Sorry. Didn't know. Um..."

As empty silence filled the room, May decided to explain the history of the phobia. "When he was little, he got separated from his parents once. Before they found him, he'd managed to find a pack of stray cats. For some reason, he followed--"

"MAY," Brendan yelled over both the story and Roark's insane laughter. "Can we perhaps do this another time? Or, maybe not?"

The female Hoenn Trainer was about to apologize, but thought the fact that she was giggling would lower its worth. She kept her mouth shut, though she played the amusing story in her head anyway.

"It's cool that you don't like cats, but I got some bum-inducing news..." Gold gave the team a contemplative frown. "I don't think I have her Pokéball."

Brendan spun around. "What?!" he shouted angrily.

"Nah, man. That girl, Jo, just handed her to me. I ain't got--" While in the process of checking his backpack, Gold felt his hand across something he knew wasn't there before. He took it off and brought his arm back around to his front so he could see it.

A small, unclear, plastic bag was dangling in front of him. He reached inside to pull out a Pokéball. Verily confused, he reached inside again and pulled out a note. "'Forgot to give you this,'" he read aloud. "'Oh, and, she might be used to the name Cherry by now. Jo.'" Around her name was a kiss, planted permanently by fresh red lipstick.

"Aw, man!" Gold whined. "I liked Skit-Puff better..."

Roark turned his head to look at a painting on the wall. "Me too," he said quietly, somewhat hoping nobody had heard him.

"Whatever. Can you return it to its ball now?" Brendan asked politely.

"Oh, sure. No prob." Without consulting the Pokémon first, Gold lifted the new Pokéball up, recalling Cherry to her home.

He walked into the room and stood in front of where Brendan's fallen chair was once standing. He extended a friendly arm toward Roark. "'Sup? Name's Gold!"

Roark observed the toned ligament in front of his face. His eyes forcefully lifted up to Gold's face. Without moving his folded arms, the fossil miner got words to leave his mouth. "How you doin'?"

--

"Dang, that girl can run fast..." Dusk moaned out loud, gasping in front of the Gym doors. After catching his breath, he set a glove on the doorhandle, but was interrupted before he could open it.

"Pika chu?"

Dusk jerked his head to the side, at first startled by the sound. He quickly jogged over to the nearby grass, where Wizard was found laying down. The mouse had been watching the falling sky, only turning his head to look at his Trainer for a moment.

Umbreon got down on a single knee. "You okay, Wizard?"

The Pokémon shook his head softly. "Chu. Pika pi. Pikachu?"

"Of course. You can tell me anything, buddy. But...does it have to be in the rain?"

Dusk's request fell on deaf ears. "Pika. Pikachu."

"What?!" he shouted, nearly falling backwards. "You don't...? But what about..." For some reason, he couldn't find any words to continue his sentence.

Wizard gave a light shrug. "Pika."

"So..." Well aware of the consequences, Dusk sat down on the soaked grass next to his partner. "Is there a reason?"

There was no response for a few moments. "P-Pikachu," he finally confessed, albeit nervously.

Dusk chuckled, which made Wizard feel uncomfortable. It made him quite upset when the boy started laughing. "Should have seen this one coming. In all honesty, I don't think I'm the one you should be talking to." Dusk stood up, dusted off the back of his jeans, and grabbed a Pokéball from his belt. It opened up, releasing a very confused Pokémon next to Wizard. "You two figure something out. I'll figure out how to talk to Dawn." With a somehow amused smile, Dusk walked back to the Gym and welcomed himself in.

"...Buneary, Bun?" Vesera wondered, tilting her head to the side.

Wizard sat up. "...P-Pikachu. Pika pi, Pi Pikachu."

Vesera's eyes sprung open. To somewhat hide her surprise and excitement, she picked up two handfuls of her own fluff and hid half of her face in it. "...B-Buneary?"

--

"_May will probably be the most disappointed_," Dusk thought to himself as he made his way down the semi-long hallway. "_She gave Dawn Ionu with the intention of it symbolizing our relationship..._" The boy frowned. He decided on a change of strategy. "_I'll keep my mouth shut for now. See what happens._"

Dusk put his hand on the doorknob, but for the second time, was interrupted before he could open it. This time, a door on the side wall opened up. The hinged wood was opened only a crack before a healthy body popped out from the other side. She instantly shut the door behind her.

She gasped when she found Umbreon standing close.

"No lecture for scaring you?" Dusk asked as a mock. "Dawn, I actually need to tell you something."

"Um...Okay," Dawn started, uncharacteristically nervous. "...Could it wait for a little bit?"

"Oh, uhh...Sure, I guess."

Without a word, Dawn sneaked by Dusk and entered the dining room before him. He soon followed, curiosity at a predictably high level.

On the right side of the table was Gold, Brendan, then May. The next chair was empty, and the one after that was still knocked down. Roark had stayed in his seat on the left side of the table.

"Hey! You're that girl that ran into me a few minutes ago!" Gold shouted with a disturbing amount of cheerfulness. "'Sup?"

Dawn ignored it, staring at nobody but Roark. Noticing this, the Gym Leader began making funny faces at her. Her apathetic expression did anything but change.

After a moment of absolute silence, Dawn finally inhaled. "...May you leave?"

"What? Oh, c'mon. Like you don't enjoy my company." After getting cold stares from everybody else in the room besides Dawn, who was still simply watching him without emotion, Roark threw his hands in the air. "Fine, fine. Screw you people, too. I need to get back to my shop, anyway."

He left his chair and walked over to Dawn. She stared back at him with a predatory expression. "...Aww, who can stay mad at you?" He ruffled her hair before turning towards the door. "I'll see you around, ladies," he announced before waving and exiting through the door.

"Later!" Gold called out.

"So...Not that I blame you, but what did you need Roark out of here for?" Brendan asked once the ex-Gym Leader had vanished.

"I wanted to tell you all something..." Dawn's voice was quiet, and unusually calm. "Umbreon? Would you like to take a seat?"

Dusk narrowed his gaze at the floor. "...S-sure. Why not." He slowly made his way over to the empty chair on the other side of May.

May smiled, glad that all of her friends were out of the rain and surrounding her.

Dawn was the only one to not be bothered to sit down. She remained standing in the position that she was already in. "After I jumped off of Latias's back, she eventually crashed just outside of town. She tried finding me, but wasn't able to. What she did succeed in finding, however, was..." She paused for a minute, seemingly recollecting her thoughts. "...It was a feeling. She sensed something. Somebody. It was the thing masquerading as Umbreon."

Dusk jumped out of his seat. "What did you just say?"

"He was...here." Dawn shook her head. "But...not for long."

"Dawn..." May leaned forward, giving her a better view of Dawn. "You said 'the thing.' Is it even human?"

Dawn shifted her head once more. "It...cannot be human. I'm not sure what it was, but..."

Conversely of May, Brendan leaned backwards in his chair to get a better view of the girl. "This is all well and good and everything, but I have a question. How do you know this? You were with me the entire time, and Latias hasn't spoken a word to me yet, so unless you're someone special--"

"I know this..." Dawn turned her head in another direction. "I know this because...I am Latias."

The revelation succeeded in flipping Brendan over in his chair. Gold blinked, not positive about what was even going on. The other two tilted their eyebrows.

"But...Latias can't talk," Dusk stated plainly, also speaking what was on May's mind.

"No, she--I mean, I can't..." The girl hesitantly lifted her head up, terrified of her friends' reactions. "A part of me is expecting you all to be mad at me for this, but I am...inside of Dawn. I do not like this term, but one could say that I am...controlling her. Sort of."

Dusk's fists clenched. Latias's eyes locked onto them immediately. "What?" he asked, not entirely amused.

After her previous experiences with Umbreon, Latias was somewhat fearful for her life. She tried lifting her eyes away from Dusk's balled hands and back to his face. "It happened...before. Do you remember? In Littleroot Town?"

Dusk quickly turned his head and looked at May. She returned the glance with a surprised but calm expression. "That would explain alot," May quietly noted.

"That is actually the...main reason that I wanted to tell you," Latias continued shyly, afraid that her grammar wasn't correct.

"Latias?"

Dawn's body turned towards May. "Yes?"

The female Hoenn Trainer stood up. She walked over to Latias and picked Dawn's hand up. "So...do you have control over only her body, er--"

Latias shook her borrowed head. "No. One could say that...I put my soul into Dawn's body. My own body is back in the other room. I cannot use both at once."

Brendan rubbed his eyes. "Oi. My head hurts."

"Really?" Gold reached for his backpack. "I got some medicine on me, if you want it."

The white-haired Trainer glared at Gold. "...It's called 'rhetoric.' Google it."

May ignored the conversation going on behind her. "Then, I only have one more question..." Knowing who it truly belonged to, she ran her hand through the closest waist-long blue hair. "Does this...hurt Dawn?"

"Well..." Latias thought about the question for a few moments, which made May, along with Dusk, quite apprehensive. "...No," she finally answered. "In Littleroot Town, she suffered a...migraine, which healed in only a few minutes. She also didn't remember anything about what I'd done. If you'd please excuse me, I'd like to ask if...Umbreon will talk to me? Alone?"

"...Yeah," Dusk stated, nothing short of clueless of his own emotions. He exited into the hallway, leaving the door open for Latias.

She walked towards the open door, but didn't enter. "It is...strange," she started with her back turned to everybody. "All of my family and friends had this ability. I do not understand why humans don't know much about it."

The three Trainers looked at each other, unsure of how to respond to that.

Latias turned around. "I am...not expecting to talk to you all very often. That wouldn't be very fair to Dawn. So..." Her eyes turned to the two boys in the room. "I am not sure of your names, but I'd like to thank one of you for helping me against that...Silver. And the other one for...running me back to this building, where I feel safe." She turned her head to give May a quick smile, then turned back around and entered the hallway.

"Wow..." May mused after Latias shut the door behind her. "Kind of a weird night, isn't it?"

"Safe to say." Brendan set his elbows on the table. He balled them into a single fist and rested his chin on it. "Dang, it must suck being a girl."

May grew infuriated. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Brendan calmly shifted his eyes towards May. "It means that Latias could break into your mind and enjoy doing anything she'd like with your face on."

The woman flinched. "Oh...I-I guess you're right..."

"But..." Gold stood up, spun his chair around, and sat on it backwards. He put an arm on the backrest and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Latios can probably do it with guys, too. But there isn't a big reason to keep looking over your shoulder. Latios and Latias are all born with a great amount of honor. It's in their genes to only use a tactic like that when they absolutely need to, and they probably feel bad while they're doing it."

Brendan and May gave confused looks at Gold. He replied with a wide, stupid grin.

"Weird, right?"

--

"Umbreon? You are...mad at me?"

The two stayed right outside the dining room door. Latias had barely moved anywhere after shutting the door. Umbreon was leaning on the wall, his eyes occasionally bouncing around the hallway.

Dusk lifted his hat up. He ran his hand through his hair, and was pleased when he found it to be drying. "Not mad, so much as...winded. Kind of a curveball you threw at us there. Why didn't you tell me and May that back in Littleroot?"

Latias shrugged. She didn't have an answer to his question.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You may," she nodded.

"Do you...like being Dawn? Isn't it weird?"

Latias hugged herself. "I adore being Dawn. She's an absolutely stunning girl. To think that I'm talking with her voice, letalone talking at all, is fascinating to me. I would love to get used to this, but, of course, I refuse to."

Dusk looked at his teammate. He was clearly tired, but managed not to say anything about it. "Dawn really can't do anything to break free of you, huh?"

Latias rubbed one elbow with the opposite hand. Her head turned towards the floor. "I...do not like it when you put it like that..."

"Sorry," he replied, doubting its truthfulness.

"...To answer the question, however...If her will to come back was strong enough, she could probably force me out of her body. But she would not do that. We are strong friends. I know that she understands."

"Yeah, me too," Dusk admitted.

Awkward silence was stuffed into the air. Dusk was somewhat shocked by Latias's shyness--it wasn't often that she had the ability to talk, so he figured she would be abusing it while she had it.

"Hey, Latias? I'm kinda curious of something else, and I'm pretty sure Dawn was too...While we were at Littleroot, you changed out of Dawn's form. Any particular reason you did that?"

The familiar sound of Dawn sighing reverberated through the hall. "In the honesty, I was beginning to get worried that Dawn was finding me...frustrating. Clingy, almost. I had seen a picture in the home of May when she was a little girl, and decided to use that for awhile instead."

"Ah..."

A self-conscious smile appeared on Latias's face. "But, I am...glad that I was able to take her form once more, and she said nothing about it..."

Dusk looked toward the ceiling. "She never told me directly, but I got the impression that Dawn felt like she wasn't, you know...good enough for you, or whatever."

"No!" Latias leaned forward, almost not believing the words that came out of Umbreon's mouth. "No! Please, Umbreon, please do not let my friend think that way! She's the most important person in the world to me!"

Dusk put on a tired smile. "I'll relay the message. Did you want to talk to me about anything?"

"Actually, I was hoping...to ask you of another favor. I was hoping you would let Dawn know how sorry I am that I need to do such a terrible thing as, um...stealing her body. But, as pathetic as this makes me sound..." Latias itched her eyebrow. "...N-nevermind. I don't have the courage to ask."

"No. Go on," Dusk prodded. "No such thing as a stupid question."

"Yes...Um...Umbreon, would you ask Dawn if...I mean, when...it is okay to do this?"

Without a word or movement, Dusk gave Latias something like an "are-you-serious" look.

"It is...disgraceful, I know." Latias lowered her head, shame easily overpowering her. "But, words cannot describe how...joyful I feel, talking with all of you. And unlike last time, I am not angered at you or May, so it feels...fun. Do I make sense?"

"...Yeah," Dusk eventually granted. "I make no promises, but it can't hurt to ask."

"I only wish that I could hold conversation...with Dawn. But I do not...feel comfortable with anyone else except those that I'm closely bonded with. It may seem...complicated."

"Quite a bit. But I'm pretty tired, so I'm blaming most of it on--"

Dusk was cut off by Latias jerking her head toward the front door. Umbreon looked in that direction as well, but found nothing. He was just about to question it when the girl in front of him fell to her knees.

"Latias?"

"...Ow...Massive headache...again..."

Dusk showed a tiny smile. "...Dawn?"

The teenage girl gently lifted her pounding head up. A hand was on her forehead, helping to keep it steady. Her eyes were squinting in a vain attempt to block out the light, which was only magnified by her pulsing head. "Umbreon? What time is it?..."

"Far later than you probably think it is. You okay?" Dusk offered a hand to help her up.

She slowly made a grab for it. No effort was made on her part to stand up, so Umbreon had to lift her to her feet by himself. "Of course I am. I'm in my prime form when I have a splitting headache."

To do nothing but worsen her condition, the door behind her swung open. A red- and white-colored dragon came soaring out of it, took a sharp turn, and headed for the front door. She used both hands to unlatch the door lock and flew outside.

As much as it pained her to do so, Dawn managed to turn her head and watch the beast hover out of the building. "Latias...?"

Dusk chose to ignore it for the time being. "Dawn, what's the last thing you remember?"

The girl craned her neck back around to Dusk. "Just...talking, to Latias. I have no idea how I ended up out here. I'm thinking that you do, though."

"I'm thinking you're a good guesser. You should take a shot at Jeopardy." Deciding to save his sarcasm for when Dawn was in a bit better mood, he put a hand on her shoulder and turned serious. "I'll explain things to you when you start feeling better. For now, just take it easy--"

For a second time in a row, Latias succeeded in worsening Dawn's headache. She hovered in front of the Gym's doors and screeched loudly.

The cry was loud enough for the other Trainers to hear. Gold, Brendan, and May, with Ionu in her hands, came dashing through the door.

Dawn was starting to get annoyed. "Would you people quiet down for a freakin' minute?!"

May stepped forward. "_Dawn?_" she mouthed to Dusk. He nodded, so May instantly turned her head back to the other girl. "Dawn, are you okay?"

"Let's see. Today, I've witnessed an entire Town get burned to the ground, found out that my life-long Pokémon friend has been lying to me her entire life, and got my worst migraine yet. And that's failing to mention that I have no idea what I've been doing for the past I have no idea how long. I can't remember the last time I've been better since I went to the Jubilife Carnival."

"_Atleast...your parents aren't on the edge of getting a divorce..._" Figuring that wouldn't help the situation much, May decided not to speak it. "Why don't we go see what Latias wants?" Hoping to safely change subjects, May started walking towards the door.

The two boys mindlessly followed her.

"Great. Movement. That's all I needed right now." Dawn slowly made her way after the group. Her hand was still holding her head.

Dusk walked next to her, holding both of her shoulders as support. He had to do everything in his power to stop himself from laughing at all of today's events.

By the time Team Missile made it outside, Dawn's near-vomiting condition had lightened to a pestering headache. She kept a hand on her head, but politely asked Umbreon to remove his arms from her shoulders. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being held, but it felt too awkward in front of all of their friends, especially Gold.

Another change that had happened was Latias, who had already morphed back into her Dawn form. Seeing Dawn in a semi-healthy state, she couldn't stop herself from blushing, running forward, and giving her a small kiss on the cheek.

From embarrassment alone, Dawn's face also flushed red. "...H-hi, Latias."

"Thrilled to be back out into the rain," Brendan proclaimed, resting his hands on his hips. "Any particular reason we're out here?"

Latias pointed towards the northern sky. Of course, not knowing what it was supposed to mean, the group turned their heads upwards to spot nothing but heavy clouds. They set their gaze back on Latias, confused.

"...Aw, dang! She made me look!" Gold broke out into hysterical laughter and slapped his knee. "She's good at this!"

Latias raised her hand to her chin and tapped her foot, understanding that she needed a new tactic. She suddenly snapped her fingers, creating one of the very few sounds she had access to while in human form.

She ran over to the grass, where Wizard and Vesera had somehow fallen asleep. She picked Wizard up, which awoke him. Vesera, having been sleeping on top of Wizard, fell onto the grass and bumped her head, also waking her up.

She set the groggy Pikachu on her right shoulder before dashing over to Umbreon. She leaned forward and sniffed the side of his neck.

"Um...I'm flattered, but--"

Latias quickly backed off, managing to grab Dusk's hat on her way back. She threw it on top of her own head.

A lightbulb activated inside Dusk, but he was beaten to the punch. "Waitaminute! Waitaminute!" Gold pounded one fist into another three times. "Um, um, um...I know this! I know this one. Um...Napoleon!" he suddenly exclaimed, thinking Latias was playing Charades. "Napoleon Bonaparte!"

All of Team Missile stared at Gold. Latias blinked at him instead.

"...What? Napoleon had a Pikachu, didn't he?"

Dusk shook his head. Deciding that it would be better to forget about Gold, he turned back to Latias. "Can you sense my imposter?"

Excited that her message had been silently relayed, Latias nodded her head eccentrically. She resumed pointing to the northern sky.

Umbreon cracked his finger bones. "Time to see how good this guy's cosplay is with my own eyes."

Taking a cue, Latias glowed brightly. Slightly fearful, Wizard hopped off of his perch and onto the ground.

In a record time, she was back into her dragon form. She stayed hovering low on the ground, awaiting to be boarded.

Dusk stepped forward. He recalled Vesera into her Pokéball, then picked Wizard up. Holding him to his body, Umbreon hopped on Latias's back. "Guys, there's a problem. Even though it's awesome that Latias found him...she can't tell us where he is, exactly."

Latias's expression dropped to sadness. Umbreon petted her neck.

"Umbreon," May began, stepping forward. "you go with Latias. I have a Pokémon with Teleport now, so once you find out where he is, just contact us, and we'll be there before you know it."

"Will do. I'll see you--"

"Latias?" Dawn interrupted. She ran forward and put her hand onto Latias's face. "Do you...feel safe with just Umbreon? If you want me to go too..."

Dusk bit his lip. He hated that Dawn still had that event in her mind, but didn't want to say anything.

Latias rubbed her head on Dawn's neck, chirping gleefully. She soon pulled back and gave a more serious nod.

Dawn smiled. "...All right. Please, take care. Remember, you're going after somebody who's already killed people and Pokémon. I highly doubt he cares very much about adding to the statistic."

With nothing but a confirmation nod, Latias took to the skies. She was rivaling the speed of a jet as soon as she got above the trees.

The girl let out a hefty sigh. She turned around and headed back for the Gym. "Well, no point in staying out here, I guess."

Brendan followed after her. "Your headache doing okay?"

Gold threw his arms behind his head and started heading for the Gym himself. May interrupted him by giving a quiet shout of his name.

"What's up?" Gold asked, turning to her.

"Gold, I was wondering if..." The woman leaned forward to the boy that was as tall as she was. "Could I have that Skitty?" she whispered in his ear. She pulled back to hold a more comfortable conversation.

"Huh? Uh, sure. Why?"

May rubbed her shoe on the ground. "Wellll...I just got thinking that maybe I could...help Brendan over his fear."

Gold thought about her answer for a minute. It didn't take him long to beam widely. "You want to torture him with it, don't'cha?"

"Of course not! I mean...that's not the main reason for it," she replied while attempting to hold a smile. She failed miserably. "I'd love to trade you for it, if you'd like anything in return."

"Sure!" Gold shouted. "Got any Magikarp?"

May blinked, doubting that she had heard him right. "...I-I'm sorry?"

--

"...Wow...Latias...You sure...picked up a few miles per hour, didn't you?..." Dusk screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that'd be enough to reach Latias's ears.

The dragon screeched back happily, the fact that Umbreon couldn't understand her slipping from her mind.

Latias was soaring the skies at an unbelievable speed, which Dusk assumed to atleast be 60 MPH. The human boy had strapped his arms around Latias's neck with the comforting knowledge that if he let go, there was no way he'd be able to stay on the ride. He had stashed Wizard underneath him, sandwiching the mouse between Latias and himself.

"_Guess this is the first time I've rode on her by myself...Hate to see how fast she can fly without any weight to slow her down._" Though incredible wind caused them to tear up instantly, Dusk squinted his eyes and looked down. He could barely focus on a single object before he whizzed past it. "_...Glad I'm not afraid of heights._"

--

"Just kinda pissed," was Dawn's answer.

Brendan and Dawn had made it back to the dining room. They occupied the two nearest chairs, Dawn having landed in hers with a scowl. Brendan, unable to look at Dawn after the events of a few minutes ago, kept his eyes on the fireplace in the near distance.

"I don't have a clue what's going on," she continued, "I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Without my knowledge, I got to the hallway. Somewhere along the line, Umbreon and Latias became best buddies, and apparently Latias can sense Umbreon's imposter?"

"Yeah...Hey, Dawn, listen...Not quite sure how those two had it planned out to tell you, but it ain't really fair to keep you in the dark about this. See..."

Brendan explained Latias's second announcement in as much detail as he could remember. Dawn's eyes grew and shrunk multiple sizes during the course of the story, but she remained silent and calm through-out it.

"...So...Yeah."

"Well, that's...nice to know."

Silence. It lasted until Brendan gave a soft chuckle. "Wasn't sure if I was expecting you to get pissed or not."

Dawn hugged herself while shifting around in her chair. She kept her eyes locked onto the edge of the table. "I probably have the right to be angry, but I...can't, you know? For one, I had a feeling that she did something like that just yesterday. Besides, it's kind of intriguing, in its own way." Dawn looked into the air and laughed. "Yeah, that's a professor's daughter for you. An event which involves her losing complete control of her body is something she defines as 'intriguing.'"

Brendan casually turned his head toward her, raising an eyebrow. "Professor's daughter?"

"Yep..." Dawn let out a blissful sigh. "In spite of deciding that I was going to deny everything, turns out that I got Rowan's blood going through me."

The Hoenn Trainer carelessly nodded. His gaze returned to the active fireplace. "By the tone of your voice, I'm heading out on a branch for this one, but I'm assuming that you don't appreciate that gene."

"I could do without it."

"Well, take this from somebody who wants to get into a professor's daughter's pants..." While Dawn was laughing, Brendan leaned back in his chair. "Enjoy that blood that's going through you. Not many people can say that they're kids of legends. It's cool if you can't stand the guy. Lotta people hate their makers. That don't mean that you can't enjoy what they gave you, anyway. You know?"

"Yeah, I know..." Dawn thought about his words for a moment. Her thoughts quickly changed, however, to who was saying those words. "_Since when did Brendan get so deep?_" She let the thought out of her mind--a lot had happened since she'd seen him last, so it wasn't unnatural for the jocular Trainer to have a small change in attitude. Instead, her conscience bugged her about something else. "I hate to keep going back to this, but...Your house."

Brendan grew a light-hearted grin. He nodded his head softly, prodding further development of the topic.

"It was...your house. It's odd to see you being so calm about it. Didn't it mean anything to you?" Dawn asked, continuing her question from earlier in the night.

Rather than up and down, Brendan shook his head from side to side. "Nah. Forget not, Dawn, I'm the heir to the throne of Petalburg Gym. I was never home...I was here, at the Gym. All the time. Training, studying, whatever. I bet I didn't walk into my own house more than twice a month."

"Wow..." Dawn stared at the table, unable to lift her eyes any further. "I didn't realize that being a Gym Leader's kid was so strict."

"It was all good, really." A phone in the room began ringing. Brendan stood up to answer it, but continued his story anyway. "But I'm assuming that it does explain why it was so much more crucial to protect the Gym than anything else, though. Right here's where the memories are for me."

After seeing a nod of acceptance from Dawn, the temporary Gym Leader picked the phone up and held it to his ear. "Peeeetttalburg Gym, where we beat the crap out of you, or you get a free badge. Now with easy-to-access parking. What's up?"

"Brendan?"

Brendan tilted his eyebrows. Though she obviously wouldn't be any help, he also turned to Dawn. "...Umbry?"

The girl perked up at the single name.

"Yeah...Yep."

"Sooo...what happened? Did you get there?"

"Yeah. We did. In about fifteen minutes. That dragon can move really, really fast."

"Guess so." Brendan changed which leg held his weight. "So where are you? I'll go find May."

"The sign outside said something about Fallober, or something?"

"Fallarbor. C'mon, give me and May some credit. We didn't screw up a Sinnoh name once. At any rate, we'll be right there. Don't move."

"Super. And, by any chance...could you hurry?"

The male didn't appreciate the sound of that. "What's wrong? Something happen? ...Umbry?" After blinking twice, Brendan slowly dropped the phone back onto the receiver.

Dawn sat in her chair, a somewhat terrified expression on her face. "Okay, when you say, 'what's wrong,' and the other person doesn't answer, that's not usually good."

Brendan ran his tongue across his lips. "...C'mon. We got to go get May."

--

"Well...h-here you go...Are you sure it's all you want?"

"Yup! That's fine!"

May and Gold had traveled to the nearby Petalburg lake. It was raining, but May tried not to mind it. The girl looked through her bag and found a collapsible, almost untouched Old Rod. She threw the line into the lake and hooked a Pokémon almost instantly. She yanked it out to find the creature she was looking for. Without even being bothered enough for a battle, May tapped the Magikarp with a Pokéball and captured it in a single shot.

May handed the Pokéball to Gold, then accepted her new Pokémon's home from him. Afterwards, she glanced at her other hand and saw the Old Rod. "...W-why don't you go ahead and take this, too? Then you can catch as many, um...Magikarp as you want."

"What?!" Gold shouted, being startled enough to stumble backwards a few steps. "Are you for real?! Sweetness!"

May scratched her cheek with her index finger. "Well, you know what they say...Give a man a Magikarp, and he'll be happy for a minute...Teach a man to fish for Magikarp, and he'll apparently be happy for a little while longer, at least."

"This is nothing short of epic..." Gold ran his hand up and down the aged fishing tool. "Thanks so much, May!"

"No, please, don't mention it!" Her voice quieted down to a level that only she could hear. "Just a little more space in my bag, that's all..."

The awkward moment was gratefully interrupted by a masculine voice crying May's name. The incompatible Trainers turned their heads to see Brendan running towards them, with Dawn not far behind.

Brendan screeched to a halt, which nearly caused him to trip on the wet grass. "Why do I always find myself standing in the rain? Look, May, we need to get to Fallarbor, now."

"Why? Is that where Umbreon is?"

"Yeah." Brendan turned his head over his shoulder just enough to see that Dawn was just a short ways back. She wasn't close enough, however, to hear Brendan's whisper. "I got a bad feeling about this one. Expect the worst."

May gulped. She hated when Brendan got "bad feelings." "...A-all right." May searched for and found a Pokéball that she had previously attempted to use. It opened up in her hand, and a humanoid Pokémon landed face-down on the ground.

Most of the creature's features were hidden in its current face-planted position. It was gray- and blue-colored, and its head was in the shape of an onion.

Without warning, May stepped forward and gave the Pokémon a solid kick to its ribs. Suddenly recharged, it instantly rolled forward and donned a fighting pose. "Mediii, tite!"

Gold stared at the strange Pokémon with an insultingly blank expression. "...What just happened?"

Dawn reached the group in time to hear Gold's question. "What'd I miss?"

May waved her hand, unsure of how to answer the boy's question. "...I-I-I don't know! For some reason, I always need to kick Meditite after it comes out of the Pokéball! I feel horrible for doing it, but I'm not sure if it even breathes until I hit it..."

"Tiiiiite..." it moaned, turning towards its Trainer.

"You succeeded in topping every other random event that's happened today, May. And trust me, you had some tough competition." Brendan ran his hand through his soaked-again hair. "Whatever. Can we get going now?"

"Yeah," May nodded. "Meditite, would you please Teleport all of us to Fallarbor Town?"

"Medi. Tite." The creature closed its eyes and began glowing blue.

While it was concentrating, Dawn squatted down on her knees and rubbed the Meditite's chin. "It's adorable. You two have the most awesome Pokémon..."

Brendan turned his head in a direction that nobody else was in. "Your Absol ranks right up there..."

May instantly jerked her head to her boyfriend. "Absol?"

Brendan said nothing, as did Dawn. The former had a strong frown on his face. The latter eventually came through with another subject. "May, where's Ionu?"

"Oh, I put her back in her Pokéball," she announced, holding one of the objects up. "Knowing her, I figured she couldn't stand the rain. She'll come back out once we get to Fall--"

"MEDI!"

With anything but a warning, the four Trainers disappeared faster than a blink of an eye.


	13. The Long Day's End

"_01:30...Ugh..._" Dusk raised his fingers to rub his temples. All he wanted was a good night's sleep.

Latias had parked right outside Fallarbor Town's Pokémon Center. The problem: Dusk couldn't be seen by the nurse, or there was bound to be trouble. The solution: a diversion. Staying in her dragon form, Latias weakly flew into the patient-lacking building while Umbreon stayed just outside the door. She crashed onto the Center's floor, feigning severe exhaustion. As soon as Dusk heard the nurse rush the Pokémon into the back, he made a break for the telephones, where he contacted Brendan. After that conversation was finished, he ran back outside as fast as his legs would carry him.

He'd slumped down on the hospital's side wall to avoid detection should anybody come out of the Center. Wizard was in his lap, searching his surroundings nervously.

There wasn't much to Fallarbor Town, or atleast what Dusk was able to enjoy. He'd spotted an odd meteorite-like crater in the ground on the opposite side of the Town, but obviously had no way of getting to it. As opposed to the rainy weather in Petalburg, Fallarbor was dry and humid. The uncomfortable conditions didn't help Umbreon's attitude any. That still didn't stop a smile from rising on his face.

"How is it possible that we succeeded in getting ourselves into this, Wizard?" he asked, trying to keep awake until his friends got there. "I'm forced to roll from bush to bush just so I'm not seen by people that have nothing against me. Ugh..." He rubbed his face with the rough leather gloves that Dawn had bought for him back in Celestic Town. "We need to stop this guy."

A quick flash of light shined near the entrance to the PokéCenter. Afraid of being spotted, Dusk didn't dare to see what it was. The voices of the conversationalists gave him great relief.

Brendan pushed his hair down with his hand, though it didn't do much for the mess. "I'm just saying that Meditite can't actually learn Teleport. That's all."

May shrugged. "What am I supposed to tell you? This one did. Besides, it's not entirely odd that the same species of Pokémon learns different moves. In fact, last time I knew, that's what Dad was studying."

"Mediii, tite..."

The Trainer equipped a smile. "Thank you so much, Meditite. Return."

After the Pokémon vanished into the ball, May turned her head upwards. Her eyes locked onto a fifth party's instantly. "Umbreon! ...I hope."

Dusk smirked. "Glad to see that my friends can tell me apart from my enemies."

"Well, bro?" Gold tossed in. "How the search be goin'?"

"Where's Latias?" Dawn added, hoping to get an explanation of her abilities before the night's end.

Dusk rubbed his eyes. "Latias lost him. We're pretty sure that he's not too far away from this Town, but besides that, we're flying blind. In answer to the other question, she's inside. We had to play a game of 'divert the nurse,' so she's just ending it out."

Brendan scratched his chin. "...Waitaminute. Why does Latias only pick him up occasionally, then lose him?"

"I've been thinking about that. One thing I came up..." Dusk's voice traveled off. In a similar manner, his eyes traveled down to his arms. "...Wizard?"

The mouse being held at Umbreon's stomach was shaking. Tears suddenly flooded down his chin, wetting Dusk's gloves. "Pika! Pikachu!" He opened his mouth and bit his Trainer's arm.

As an automatic reaction, Dusk dropped Wizard and held his hand. "Ow! Wizard, what are--"

The Pikachu landed on all fours. Without any hesitation besides water blocking his sight, he flipped around and bolted to the east. His natural speed stopped him from staying in the humans' sight for very long, and it was only helped by the pitch blackness of night.

"Wizard!!" May cried, sad to see her friend run away like that.

Dawn started walking up behind Dusk, who had his head turned towards where Wizard was last seen. He tried running after him, but his arm was grabbed instantly by Dawn.

He jerked his head around and glared at Dawn. She gulped. She remembered that look. "What?!" the boy shouted in her ear.

"Umbreon, please!" she retaliated anyway, trying to keep her voice soft, but not sound weak. "Today's been long enough as it is. We all desperately need sleep. Let's just get some rest tonight, and we'll search for Wizard the first thing tomorrow morning. I promise. Please?"

"No. I like my strategy better. Find Wizard tonight." He tried running again, but that only made Dawn grip onto him harder.

"Umbreon, I'm begging you. Just tonight. If you don't get some sleep...I don't know what will happen. I just want you to stay healthy, and..." She blinked back tears. "...Please, Umbreon."

Dusk snapped his arm out of Dawn's hold. Instead of running, he lifted the same arm up and looked at Wizard's bite mark. "...You don't remember what happened the last time I lost Wizard, do you?"

Dawn brought her own arm back to her side. "I'm taking the chance."

The angered boy clenched his fist. "You might be good at guessing, but you suck at Vegas." With no one else in his way, Umbreon ran into the night. His eyes were bouncing everywhere, looking for any bright yellow object in the dark.

Unintentionally mirroring his movement, Dawn locked her fists shut as well. "...I can't stand that loser," she stated out loud. Surprising all of the audience, she suddenly bolted after him.

"DAWN!!" May cried even louder than she did last time. "Don't add to the problem!"

"Of _course_ I'm going to add to the problem!" Dawn shouted back. "Meet us at...wherever we're heading. Just get some sleep!"

Brendan rubbed the back of his head. "Wow. Those two are a lot more annoying than I remember."

"They're not annoying," May defended. "Just...stubborn."

Startling the remaining Trainers, the Pokémon Center doors suddenly opened. An energetic Latias flew out of them. She hovered in the air slightly above May and looked around her surroundings.

May stood on her toes and poked at the dragon. "Latias?"

The obedient Pokémon elevated downwards and got in front of May's face. She let out a tiny yelp, complimenting her worried expression.

"Latias, Dawn and Umbreon..." May stroked the side of Latias's white-colored neck, hoping it provided physical comfort to her. "They...aren't here right now. We'll find them again in the morning, but for now, I think you should stay with us. Are you okay with that?"

With a twitch of fear boiling up inside of her, Latias shined a bright glow, illuminating Fallarbor Town and temporarily blinding the three Trainers. By the time they got their sight back, Latias had returned to her Dawn look-alike form. She placed her arms around May's back and dug her eyes into the human's shoulder worriedly.

May tied her arms around Latias, as well. Her own eyes turned to Brendan, who was just as flustered and tired as she was.

May turned her head back to Latias and sighed. Finally, she leaned in and gave a small kiss to the young girl's neck. "It's okay..."

--

"Wizard!"

Dusk had jogged all the way to Route 113. Abusing the increased ability of his senses given to him by adrenaline, he'd heard a sound behind a thin bush. A quick investigation revealed Team Missile's icon quivering inside.

Dusk reached in carefully, trying his best to avoid the sharp twigs that were jutting out all over it. He managed to get Wizard out with only a few scratches between the both of them.

He sat down in front of the bush and allowed Wizard to rest on his lap. "Wizard, buddy, what happened back there?"

"Pika, Pikachu..." he moaned, beginning to wail harder.

"No, tell me...You know that I--"

"Whoa!" a third party member shouted, dangerously close-by. With his sight being next-to useless in the dark, Umbreon couldn't tell what had happened. "Almost crashed into you," Dawn's voice said. "Guess my supreme luck with hurting myself is running out."

Dusk blinked. His mouth was open. "I...didn't expect you to follow me..."

"We can talk about that later." Dawn sat on the ground, landing on the backs of her legs. She leaned forward and softly stroked Wizard. "Are you okay, Wizard?"

"Chu..." Wizard shook his head. Some tears sprayed on both Trainers. "Pikachu, Pika pi!"

The boy rubbed his thumb against the Pikachu's electric cheek. "He doesn't want to tell me, for some reason..."

"Oh, Wizard..." Dawn softly took the mouse from Umbreon's control. She brought him close to her body. "...Tell Dusk," she whispered gently into his ear. "Tell Dusk, then he'll tell me, and then we'll both make you feel better. I promise."

There wasn't any sounds besides Wizard's sobs. Umbreon took the opportunity to start a different subject. "...'Dusk'?"

Dawn showed a smile. Before she could say anything, though, Wizard worked the courage up to confess. "...Pika...Pikachu, Pi pika?..."

"Of course we do," Dusk answered. Dawn decided to stay silent, doing nothing but holding the upset Pokémon.

"Pika...pika pi..."

Dusk jerked his head towards Fallarbor Town. "What?!"

"What's wrong?" Dawn finally asked, keeping her voice soft.

"Turns out..." Dusk reached for Wizard's head and scratched the bottom of his long ears. "...Wizard was captured by his first Trainer in Fallarbor Town."

"What?!" the lone girl echoed. "Oh, Wizard...Guess that would be a good reason to be sad, huh?"

"Chu," he agreed silently.

Dawn held the Pikachu tighter. "I promise that if we ever come back to Hoenn, we'll never visit Fallarbor again. We can agree to that, can't we? Dusk?"

Dusk gave a weak smirk. His exhaustion was coming back at him in full force. "Of course we can."

"...Pika..."

"No problem, buddy." Dusk yawned. "Hate to cut the moment, but I'm dead tired. Why don't you take Wizard back to the Center, and I'll--"

"Lay."

The boy fell blank. He did his best to make Dawn's eyes out with the passable assistance that the moon gave him. "...What?"

Dawn fell backwards, resting her entire back on the ground. She set Wizard directly next to her cheek and petted him with a hand. Afterwards, she stuffed her unmentioned holdall under her head to use as a makeshift pillow. Finally, she patted her tummy. "Lay."

"Um..." Dusk gulped. "O-okay...I think." Keeping nervous, Dusk crawled into a different position. He leaned backwards and was nothing short of hesitant when he finally rested his head on Dawn's breakable body.

"I don't bite, Dusk," Dawn explained, masking giggles.

"No, it's just...nothing. Thanks for helping me and Wizard out," he said, smoothly shifting subjects.

"He's my Pokémon too, you know," Dawn teased, pulling Umbreon's beret off of his head and placing it on his face.

"Funny."

"I thought so," Dawn laughed.

Dusk grabbed his hat and set it on the ground next to him. Having his arm rub against them, Dusk decided to grab a few strands of Dawn's long hair and play with them a little.

Dawn let out an impatient cough. "You brought up two subjects that were discarded in favor of helping Wizard. Now that we're done with that, you don't even mention them?" She turned her head to the side to see Wizard laying down. He'd already managed to get to sleep.

"The only thing I'm curious enough to be bothered to ask right now is why you're here. I was expecting to have another four chapters' worth of apologizing to do."

"Dusk, you..." She paused for a moment, unsure of which words to use. "...You know how important you are to me, don't you?"

Staring into the sky, Dusk connected the little dipper. He said nothing.

"When we fought against Galactic," the calm, teenage girl voice began, "you'd bend over backwards if it helped me. Now that you're in this huge bind with being framed and everything, I have to prove to you that I can do the same. And if you won't accept that..." Once more, there was a small pause before she continued. "I need to prove it to myself, too. I have other reasons too, but that's the main one, I guess."

"I'm all ears," Dusk stated, finally beginning to get comfortable on his living pillow.

"I wanted to apologize for trying to stop you from running after Wizard in the first place. By now, you'd think I would have gathered how important he is to you, and in all honesty, I should have been running right alongside you. I almost feel like I let Wizard down by letting him run off like that..." She sighed. "And besides that, I just wanted to see you, since I'll apparently be doing less of that lately."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Despite his wishes, Dusk couldn't restrain a yawn.

Emptiness.

"...Brendan told me about Latias."

Dusk closed his eyes. "Oh. Crap."

"I was bound to find out," Dawn replied. "A girl can only get mind controlled so many times before she starts to catch on. I'm not mad, of course. Just curious."

Dusk turned his mouth into a smirk. "That's a professor's daughter for you."

"Yeah, I said the same thing, actually..." Dawn slowly brought her hand down to Umbreon's face. She gently rubbed his cheek. "...Dusk, you should get some sleep. You're the last person in the group that should be sleep-deprieved."

"Mind if I do one more thing, first?"

Dawn blinked. "Um...I guess not."

Dusk sat up. He twisted his back around so he was turned towards Dawn. He placed an arm on the ground on the other side of her, trapping the girl on the grass. Without much warning, he leaned his head forward until his lips crashed into Dawn's.

After recovering from the slight startle, Dawn closed her eyes. She placed a hand behind Umbreon's head to insure that he wouldn't move away quickly.

It only lasted a few seconds before Dusk backed off. He didn't alter his position, however. "We don't say 'I love you' enough..."

Dawn took the liberty of planting a quick kiss on his lips. "No, we don't."

A wide grin came to Dusk's face. Before his partner could question it, he spun back around and landed his head on her stomach. "We'll start tomorrow."

"Umbreon!!"

--

"Two three-star rooms comes to sixty dollars."

Brendan pulled out the required amount of funds and reluctantly handed it to the nurse.

"Excellent! Have a good night's rest. I'll make sure your Pokémon are in perfect shape by tomorrow morning." Without another word, the strangely-familiar nurse turned around and headed down the hallway.

Brendan muttered a curse under his breath. "_For that kind of money, these beds better be made outta--_"

"GOLD," May shouted. "Don't touch me, pervert!"

Brendan spun back around to his friends. He was greeted with a scene containing an infuriated May, confused Latias, and Gold, whose cheek was still red from getting smacked.

"I just wanted to see what was in your bag--"

"My bag's not down that far!"

"Okay, okay..." Brendan dashed over to the argument and got in between the two. Being close enough to him, Brendan was able to throw his arm around the back of Gold's neck. "Time for my epic save. Gold, why don't you wait in the room? I'll be there in a minute."

"Uh, sure! No problem!" Completely forgetting about May, Gold twirled around and whistled a tune as he walked towards the side door.

Knowing his closest friend was furious, Brendan tried as hard as he could not to chuckle. It didn't work. "I'm sorry, May. Gold has odd ways of warming up to people."

"You don't say." May folded her arms.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll keep him on a leash, I promise. It's almost two in the morning, so do me a favor and try to forget about it for now?" Brendan gave May a quick kiss on the cheek. After running through a silent prayer that May would calm down, the Trainer headed after Gold. "You two have fun with your little girl party." A wave was the last thing Brendan did before leaving.

May gave a small shudder, but hoped that Latias didn't see it. "So, we should get some sleep too," she said, trying to take Brendan's advice. "Are you ready to go to bed?"

Latias hesitated, then nodded. She scratched her navy-colored hair-covered head before following May over to the door.

The female Hoenn Trainer sighed as she pushed the door to their room open. "Hoenn's idea of a three-star room is different from everybody else's, I think."

Surprising no one, the inside of the rented room looked no different than the Sinnoh counterparts. A single bunkbed was stashed into the corner of the tiny room, with a small nightstand next to it. Even the door leading to the washroom was in the same place.

May entered the room, leaving room in the doorway for Latias to enter. Once she heard the silent human's footsteps, May turned to her. "So, what bed would you like? The top, or bottom? I don't care either way."

Latias nervously eyed both beds one right after the other. Eventually, she walked into the room, quietly shutting the door behind her, and sat on the bottom bunk. She curled into the corner of the bed, bringing her knees up to her chin. She rested her head on them and frowned. Depression was leaking from her eyes, though she was unable to voice it.

May knew that, in her current state, Latias would have an impossible time getting to sleep. She also knew that her kind heart would prevent herself from getting to sleep until she knew that Latias was feeling better. She walked over to the same bunk and sat down on the edge of it. The act managed to get Latias to shift her eyes to May. "...You really miss Dawn, don't you?"

The eyes fell back down.

May looked up to the generic, somewhat dirty ceiling. "I missed her a lot, too, after we split up. I never knew what it was like to have a girl for a best friend until I met her, after all. You know what kept me happy?"

Latias weakly shook her head.

The older girl turned to her and smiled. "This scarf used to be Dawn's," she explained, stroking the tassels of the item that was wrapped around her neck. "It was the most important possession that she had, and she gave it to me. So any time that I started to miss her, I just looked at the scarf. I think you should do the same. I don't know if Dawn's ever given you anything or not, but, I mean...You look exactly like her, which should be enough, right?" She gave a gentle laugh, not wanting the subject to become awkward. "This is probably your first night in a few days without Dawn, but..."

May's voice trailed off when she started hearing sounds coming from Latias's direction. She turned her head to see the dragon reaching into her jean shorts' pocket.

It was only a moment until Latias's hand came back out. In its grasp was a highly-detailed, nine-holed ocarina. She held it clumsily at first, but soon placed her fingers on the proper positions.

"Oh, Latias, that flute is absolutely gorgeous...I didn't know you played any instruments. Did Dawn give that to you?"

She never got an answer. Latias closed her eyes and lifted the musical instrument to her mouth slowly. She placed her lips around the mouthpiece and blew a gentle breath of air.

The result was a single, soothing note. It had come out with no faults, which, after getting to know the shopkeeper a little bit better tonight, even Latias was surprised at. She inhaled once more and began playing a full song.

May watched in something between amusement and shock. Latias's fingers bounced up and down, expertly nailing every single note to the tune. Deciding to shove Latias's seemingly-endless amount of talents into the back of her mind, May closed her eyes and relaxed as she tried to figure out what song was playing.

A minute and a half passed, and Latias finally moved the flute away from her face. She opened her eyes to see May smiling to herself, apparently having been enraptured by the amazing sound.

May opened her own eyes up a moment later. She didn't turn to the musician. "That was absolutely beautiful...What's it called?"

Latias smiled. She set the ocarina on the bed, then crawled over to May. She unzipped the Trainer's waist pack, which alerted her. Ignoring May's question of what she was looking for, Latias shuffled through the contents. She eventually succeeded in finding what she was looking for; a paper and pen.

May kept her thoughts to herself as she watched the dragon pull out the two items.

Latias sat back down. Unlike how one usually holds a pen, Latias gripped it with all four fingers. She jotted something down before handing the paper back to May.

The Trainer accepted it and stared at it. The letters that Latias had used only vaguely resembled English writing. Lines were drawn across the characters in strange places, and none of the vowels resembled their human counterparts. May only stared at the paper for a short while before deciding that she couldn't decipher it right now. "It was awesome, Latias..."

With an even wider smile on her face than before, Latias bobbed her head up and down.

"I wouldn't rate it any less than spectacular. Please play it for me again sometime, okay?"

Latias nodded, handing the pen back to May as well.

The woman accepted it, though it wasn't what she had on her mind. "Do you feel well enough to get some sleep, now?"

Remembering how sleepy she was, Latias nodded her head. She let out a mute yawn before crashing her head back into the pillow.

May got off the bed and walked over to the light switch. "Okay. Sweet dreams." She flicked the object into its downwards position, killing the illumination in the room.

Using her memory, she walked forward and felt around for the ladder. After getting a decent understanding of it, she climbed up the short staircase and jumped into the bed. She tried to get comfortable on the loaned bed, but for some reason, couldn't.

"...Latias? Are you still awake?"

No response. Of course, May had been expecting that.

"I haven't forgotten your secret. The one that you told me at my house, I mean. I think it's perfectly fine that you...care a lot about Dawn. All that I ask is that...you don't hurt Umbreon. Do you know what I mean? Anyways, I'll shut up so we can get to sleep. Good night."

May turned to her side and closed her eyes.

Latias stayed on her back and blushed.

--

Brendan stared at the absolute blackness in front of his face. "Okay, Gold. Here's how the chick thing works. If you want to score, don't make a grab for the babymaker. Surprisingly enough, they generally don't like that."

"Dude, I'm telling you!" Gold leaned over the top bunk, dropping his head into view of Brendan. With the lights off, neither could really make the other out. "I just thought I saw another fishing rod in her bag, and I thought it was cool! When I reached my hand forward, she...adjusted! It's her fault that my hand landed there!"

"Ugh..." Brendan rubbed his eyes. "That's it. I can't deal with this right now. Just get to sleep."

"I'm telling you," Gold said anyway, getting back into a more comfortable position. "It's true. That's the way it happened. True. Just ask Lati--"

"Gold. Good. Night."

"Night!"


	14. Stepping on Glass

Dusk's eyes opened when he felt a small poke in his lower leg. The active sun instantly blinded him, forcing him to shut his eyelids again. After a brief moment of preparation, he looked at his leg to see a curious Kricketot jabbing him with its tiny arms.

He gently moved his leg, which resulted in the small Pokémon becoming terrified. It ran away as fast as it could, shouting obscenities along the way.

Finally, Dusk forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes, determined to stay awake. "Uh...That was random," he stated out loud.

The sentence along with the movement woke his human partner up as well. She squinted, angered at the sun for being in the sky already. "What time is it?" she mumbled.

Dusk checked his watch. Upon spotting the time, his eyebrows perked. "Wow. Half past nine."

"Guess that's what happens when you stay up until two..." Dawn bounced up, getting somewhat comfortable on her bottom. She put a hand behind her neck and attempted to twist it. "Sleep well?"

"All things considered, yes. You?"

"Sure. I slept better here than I did most nights in Sinnoh."

Dusk frowned, his eyes locked at the sleeping Wizard. He hated when Dawn brought up that certain event from her past. "So, now or later?"

Dawn paused to stretch her arms. "Drama already? Starting early today?"

"Latias...wanted me to tell you a few things."

The girl's morning cheerfulness sank like a rock. "...Oh," she said quietly, watching the back of Umbreon's head. "What did she say?"

"The first thing was that she wanted to apologize to you for doing...that."

"It's fine," Dawn instantly replied, not caring that her words didn't mean much to who she was talking to. "Like I said, I actually think it's interesting. I just wish I was...you know, here to see it."

"Funny you say that." Dusk scratched the back of his neck. He couldn't thank luck enough for letting him be in a position that blocked his face from Dawn's view. "After she apologized, she told me to ask you if...she could start doing it a little more often."

Dawn blinked. She played his words over in her head multiple times. "...What?"

"That was basically my reaction, too," Dusk said. "Still told her that I'd ask, though."

Dawn fell silent. In fact, the entire route seemed to do that. After a minute, Dusk continued the subject.

"I also asked her why she changed how she looked soon before we left Littleroot."

"What'd she say?" the girl inquired shakily, still paralyzed from the last question.

Dusk put on a small smile as he remembered her exact words. "She said that she was afraid that she was becoming clingy to you, so she switched into an old picture of May that she'd found."

Dawn did her best to force a smile. "It kinda sucks. The only person who doesn't seem to know that much about Latias is me."

More silence. A sharp wind cut through the morning air, stirring the grass up a bit. The distraction went mostly uncared for.

Dawn crawled over to Dusk's back. She turned around and leaned on it with her own back. "Latias..." she started almost sadly. "...What does she sound like?

Dusk let out a playful "hmph." "You." Knowing that response didn't necessarily answer her question, Dusk continued on with the description. "She pauses a lot. At least, last night she did. I don't remember her doing that back in Littleroot. She's kinda quiet, too. She didn't usually talk before I started conversation. She's also...kinda hilarious. She stared at Roark for a few minutes, and with a straight face, politely asked him, 'Could you leave?'"

Dawn laughed, which Dusk grinned at. He didn't want her to get too upset over this.

"She also ain't too bad at English, either," he went on. "I'm assuming that us meeting her in Coronet was one of her first experiences with humans. Considering that, I only noticed a couple things she said, if that, were off."

Dawn chortled. "Considering it's 'our meeting her in Coronet,' I'm doubting your ability to judge Latias on that."

"Oh, whatever."

The light bellowing from the girl turned into a happy laugh. "I was just saying!"

Dusk reached his hand backwards. He managed to grab Dawn's arm that was still bandaged. He trailed it downwards until he found her hand, which he promptly gripped. "But, Dawn. Whatever you decide to tell Latias...Don't be afraid to say 'not often.' Or even 'no.'"

Dawn's head fell. She was always frustrated at herself after falling into Umbreon's traps. This wasn't the first time he got her to laugh, only to bring a depressing topic back up. "...I-I know, but..." Expecting to get interrupted, Dawn stopped. She was a little surprised when her partner said nothing. "...It sounds like she had a lot of fun, finally being able to talk. For the...well, second time, she probably...really felt like one of your friends. How am I supposed to deny her of that?"

"She didn't even want to ask the question," Dusk replied. "She felt just as awkward saying it as I just did. If that means anything to you."

"I...I don't know." Dawn turned her head to the sky, and was grateful when she didn't spy a thick cloud anywhere. "I just need some time to think about it, I guess."

"...Company."

The contemplating girl turned her head half-way over her shoulder. "Hm?"

There wasn't an answer from Dusk. However, after a few moments, several footsteps were heard sneaking up on Dawn's back, coming from the direction of Fallarbor Town.

"Good morning, you two!" a cheerful voice started, increasing her pace to reach the Sinnoh Trainers quicker. When she hit her destination, she got to their side and bent down on a knee. "You actually didn't go as far as I was figuring you would. Did everything go okay?"

"Good morning, May," Dawn replied, not being bothered enough to move from her position. "Yeah, everything went fine. I take it nothing happened on your end?"

"Not quite that far back..." May murmured, hoping it wasn't clear enough for the other two to understand.

"What do you mean?" Dusk inquired.

The comment made May flush. "Uh, nothing! Forget I said that!"

"...And then _I _get dragged up on stage to do this stupid karaoke thing."

The sound of Gold exploding with laughter successfully killed the previous moment for the Sinnoh Trainers. With a weak smile, Dawn gave two small squeezes to Dusk's hand, then started getting to her feet. Umbreon and May soon followed her up.

Dawn failed to turn around to face the rest of the group before getting choked by two arms around her stomach. She looked down to see one arm wrapped in a bandage, one arm in a cast, and neither of them her own. Her smile increased in strength, if not by a little bit. "Good morning, Latias."

With all the footsteps and noise, it was inevitable that Wizard finally woke from his slumber. He blinked his eyes, then looked upwards and beamed at all the familiar faces. "Pika!" he shouted loudly, catching everybody's attention.

"Good morning, Wizard," was heard from everybody but Latias and Gold, the latter calling Wizard "P," for some reason.

He jumped from the ground all the way to Umbreon's shoulder. "Pika, pika," he repeated a bit quieter.

"Feeling good, buddy?" Dusk scratched Wizard's head before turning to the group. "Well, since we're all here, we might as well head off. I-"

Gold clapped his hands together. "Actually, I got some weird news for ya'll. I gotta split."

"What? Why?" his closest partner immediately asked back.

"Man, I got a some work to do in good ol' FA." Gold slapped Brendan's arm. "Don't worry, bro, we'll keep in touch!"

Brendan pointed his thumb in the general vicinity of the team. "We'll wait for you, if-"

Gold put his hands on his hips. "Nah, dude, that ain't cool. You guys got to get to tracking down heavy D's imposter, and sittin' around here all day won't do you no good. Like I said, man, I got your 'Nav number, so it ain't like I'm going far. We'll meet up in a few days, and you can eat that one!" Without turning around, Gold started on his way back to the quaint town. "You guys keep tabs on that moron, will ya? Oh, and hey, May, real sorry about last night!"

May scratched her cheek. "D-don't worry about it..."

"Cool! Cool, girl! A'ight, see ya'll around somewhere!" The boy finally shifted on his heel and dashed back into where he came from with a surprising amount of agility.

"...What's FA?" Dusk questioned once Gold was gone.

Brendan rubbed the back of his head. "Fallarbor, I'm assuming." He let out a short, but strong sigh. "That kinda sucks. Ah, well."

"Anyway, like I was saying, I obviously can't head back there in blinding daylight. Combine that with..." Dusk turned his eyes to Dawn specifically, who was watching him while in another of Latias's holds. "...another reason, and Fallarbor's pretty much off-limits. Where will we end up if we just keep heading down this route?"

"The next big city we'll probably hit would be Mauville," Brendan answered from memory, confirming it with May with a silent glance. "Before that's just this route and Route 111, both of which are pretty long."

"Fantastic. Long routes." Knowing that his word was law as far as Team Missile was concerned, Dusk headed eastward. "Trouble never finds us on long routes."

Brendan and May followed him, and after detaching herself, Latias happily kept alongside Dawn, who had fallen into the rear.

"So, what was wrong with Wizard?" May asked, hoping the day would go by faster with early conversation.

"Turns out..." Dusk stroked the Pokémon on his shoulder. The mouse had gotten tense from the subject alone. "...our favorite Pikachu is a Hoennite."

"What? Really?" Excited about the news, May reached her arms forward and grabbed Wizard right off of his perch. She held him high in the air. "You never told us that!"

Wizard scratched the side of his own ear. "Pika...Pika, chu?"

May brought him back down and cradled him in her arms. He didn't mind snuggling up to her orange shirt. May used her scarf to tickle his ears, which got an amusing twitch out of him. "So what was the problem?"

"...Remember his first Trainer?" Dusk started off quietly, forgetting that Wizard's incredible ears would pick up anything he said anyway, "Wizard said that Fallarbor's where he was captured by him..."

"Oh, Wizard..." Feeling sympathetic for the creature, she let him hold the tassel to her scarf.

His slightly sad expression changed to curiosity, then happiness as he shook, tugged, and blinded himself with the warm material. "Piika!" he yelled, his voice getting muffled from being behind the scarf.

"On a brighter note, I see that Wizard's just as speedy as I left him..." Brendan noted, his eyes turned to Wizard. "Not that I expected anything less."

In the back of the group, Latias was beginning to get worried. The two were far enough back to hold a semi-private conversation, so she didn't understand why Dawn wasn't saying anything. The girl's head was lowered, watching the grass below her disappear as the team began treading on more of a dusty trail.

It wasn't much longer until the human-Pokémon couldn't stand it anymore. She tugged at Dawn's shirt.

When Dawn saw how scared Latias was for her, she smiled, once again failing to get much strength behind it. "I'm fine, Latias, really..." Her head returned to its previous position. "Dusk-I mean, Umbreon...He...told me about the things that you wanted to tell me."

Latias bit her lip. She would have given anything if it allowed her to give a verbal apology.

"I can only imagine how excited you are for the answer, but I just wanted to tell you that..." At this point, Dawn figured that Latias's expectations had sank like a rock. She figured correctly. "...I-I just need more time."

After what she had been counting on, the answer that Latias received was actually quite positive. It made her perk up.

"Latias, I want you to know that it means the world to me that you actually asked for my permission. But, even with that, it's...scary, thinking that somebody else is in my body. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just...the thought itself. You understand, don't you?"

Latias nodded her head somewhat reluctantly.

"You're awesome, Latias." Dawn leaned over with the sole intention of kissing her female friend on the neck, as they did so much in Littleroot. "Thank you," she said quietly, still close to Latias's neck.

Latias retired to standing behind Dawn a bit, hoping it would prevent the girl from seeing the blush on her face. As far as she was aware, it succeeded.

**-OAM-**

"Prepare for trouble, we work from home..."

"Make it double, but hold up, I'm on the phone..."

"To protect-Huh?"

Somewhere along Route 113 was a house, and in that house was a glass workshop. Two people, along with their feline pet, worked tirelessly at crafting objects from glass. Shelves placed inside the glass counter held their skillful works on display.

Behind the counter were the essential items involved; a fire stack, the expected tools, and a fridge. The medium-sized cooler didn't help much in the creation of glass objects, but it worked for when hunger struck. On top of the counter was a phone, which was currently occupied.

"Who's he talking to?" Jessie wondered snidely, aggravated that the motto had been interrupted.

Meowth raised a hammer into the air. "Like I'd know 'dat."

Jessie's eyes turned to the talking cat. "...Why do you have a hammer?"

"It's for when youse twos start actin' all stupid on me," Meowth replied, somewhat surprised that Jessie had needed to ask that question.

"Mm-hm...Uh-huh...Mm-hm..." While muttering into the phone, James was jotting down notes of the conversation on a slip of paper. "But what about the Absol? When we-Oh, I see..."

"Hmph." Jessie frowned. She opened the refrigerator door and found a healthy apple to satisfy her hunger with. "Don't tell me he's talking to that Magma slut again."

"He's too obsessed with 'dat," Meowth agreed, temporarily resting the hammerhead on the floor.

"Super groovy!" James suddenly exclaimed. "Thank you so-What? Oh...But, I like saying the word 'groovy...' It-All right, fine. Talk to you then, then." Without a usual farewell, James hung the phone up.

Jessie took a deep bite out of the fruit in her hand. "So, let me guess. Another failed attempt to get us back into Team Magma?"

James spun around to face his teammates. "We don't know. They might let us back in. They're deciding whose fault it really was for losing that Absol."

"Hm. Well, duh." Jessie walked over to a small table near the fire stack, where a half-completed project stood. "They're the ones that told us to retreat. If they didn't say anything, we would have happily continued trumping those twerps."

"All I know is that I miss my Tyranitar..." James said sadly, a small tear working its way up to his eye.

Conversely, Meowth chuckled. "I miss yer green head, Jimmy."

Jessie walked over to James. She ran her opposite hand through James' mostly-purple hair. "Still see a few spots...Glad that you got most of that washed out, anyway."

"Tell me about it," James added, proud of his true hair color. "I-Hey, wait a minute...why does Meowth have a hammer?"

Jessie's sharp eyes interrupted an answer. They looked out the window of the one-story building viciously. "We got bigger problems."

"Huh?" James turned his head over his shoulder, allowing him to also see through the window.

"Twerps."

**-OAM-**

"There it is! I'm so glad we're here!"

The entire team couldn't help a smile at May's cheerfulness, Wizard included. Dawn was starting to miss Ionu, who remained in May's possession, but didn't want to say anything to her at the moment. While walking up the dusty, smoke-smelling road, the female Hoenn Trainer had actually taken a small lead on Dusk.

"I used to come here all the time! It's owned by two really nice, older folks, and they..."

As May droned on, Brendan chuckled to himself. "Yeah..._All_ the time," Brendan said quietly enough for the other three to hear.

"And then they even gave me free candy sometimes!" May continued with a laugh. Out of nowhere, she stopped both talking and walking, and turned to Dusk. "Oh, Umbreon, I've been meaning to ask you. How come you never mentioned that your mother works as a radio host?"

"She does?" Dawn wondered.

Dusk raised an eyebrow. "...She does?"

The entire group had stopped at that point, to a little of Latias's dismay. She wanted to see what was in that building that got May so excited.

May turned blank. "Er...You didn't know that?"

Knowing it was still a ways up the path, Dusk started walking again. "No, but I'm slightly curious how you do."

The woman gave a few big steps to catch up to Umbreon's side. "Max asked her about it when she was at our house."

"She was where?" Dusk shouted, jerking his head toward May.

"Um...At...our house," May repeated, fearful that maybe Dusk didn't get along with his mother. "Umbreon, I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it. We don't have-"

"Why is she in Hoenn..." Dusk mused to himself. "Last time I checked in with her, she was unemployed," he finally answered.

May watched the ground beneath her pass while trying to come up with a way to continue the topic. "Oh...Well, maybe she just found the job since the last time you talked with her?"

"_Unlikely,_" Dusk thought to himself.

The group turned awkwardness to the extreme as they continued in silence towards the shop.

**-OAM-**

"Welllllcome!" a red-haired lady greeted excitably. The hair reached even farther down her back than Dawn's. "We're so glad you could make it!"

A man with short, purple hair, contained slightly with a green headband, nodded his head.

May blinked as the woman lifted May's hand up to shake it. "Um...Hello."

Both shopkeepers were dressed in something similar to medieval Chinese folk. They both wore flamboyant robes and a holster for a sword on their waists. However, there was no sword in them. The man's robe was yellow on top and green from the knees down, while the other's was red on top, and a dark blue on the bottom.

Dawn suddenly jumped in the doorway from behind May. "Hey! You're Team Rocket!"

Due to the declaration, Latias also looked closer at them. She squinted her eyes threateningly, ready to transform at a moment's notice.

Both shopkeepers stumbled back a few steps. "Uh, no, really, we're-"

"What are you talking about, Dawn?" May wondered, turning her head to her companion. "They don't look anything like Team Rocket." She turned her head back to observe them some more. "I mean, yeah, the hair colors are the same, but that doesn't mean anything...Besides, they don't have a Meowth."

"She's right, Dawn," Dusk stated, also walking into the shop. His Pikachu watched the two people curiously, but didn't look ready to attack. "You eager to have a battle or something?" he added with a chuckle.

Dawn blinked her eyes at both of her teammates. "You're...kidding, right?" she asked quietly. She turned to her last hope. "Brendan?"

"Uhh..." Brendan cocked his head to the side. "Well, if you do kinda tilt your head a little, there definitely are some resemblances...But, hey, I haven't seen 'em that much before, so don't take my word for it."

Dawn was forced to look at Latias, who was getting confused. She turned her head back to the shopkeepers. "Are you people...blind?" she wondered, once more, so quiet that it was basically to herself. "Just...Put an 'R' on their shirts, and..."

Though sweating bullets, the woman decided to speak up. "Yes! Yes, that's correct! We do not know anything about this...What'd you call them? Team Rocket?"

The man bobbed his head up and down at an awkward pace. "Right! She's right!"

"See, Dawn?" May comforted, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing to get so upset about. You must have just had a rough night."

The other three Trainers walked into the shop and looked around. May and Brendan headed for the glass counter, while a painting on the wall seemed to enrapture Dusk.

Dawn, meanwhile, couldn't get herself to move if she tried. She couldn't believe that she'd just gotten shut down by her closest friends. "...L-Latias?"

The human-dragon wasn't able to do much more than Dawn could.

"So, did something happen to the other two owners?" May wondered, squatting down on her knees to get a closer look at an item. "I was really looking forward to seeing them again."

"They...died-"

"No!" the man shouted, interrupting his partner. "They, um...went on vacation! To...the...Sevii Islands! Where it's...warm. Very warm. Old bones get cold much faster than us young age folks, you know."

May blinked her eyes. "...Oh."

Brendan was a bit more willing to challenge the call than May was. "But northern Hoenn has Mount Chimney sittin' right next to it. It's always warm up here."

"Yes...Well...um..." The man gulped. "It's...even warmer in the Sevii Islands. Have you ever been there, by chance? It's a wonderful place to travel to, if you ever have the time, if I do say so myself," he mused thoughtfully, nodding his head to agree with himself.

"Uhh...Yeahh..." Brendan shook his head, then knelt down to see what item May was looking at.

In contrast, May got to her feet and leaned over the counter, allowing herself a view of different glass figures. The petit smile that stayed on her face as she observed the surprisingly well-crafted objects suddenly vanished, replaced by suspicion when her eye happened to catch cream-colored fur hiding on the opposite side of the see-through bench. "Hey...Is that a Meowth?"

Brendan was quick to his own feet. He had his own reasons for despising the alleged feline that was two feet away from him, but didn't have enough time to express them.

Before he could, both shopkeepers bolted over to the Hoenn Trainers and forcefully pulled them away from the counter. "Uh, please, don't lean on the counter!"

"It's very, um...breakable," the woman added. "Right, partner?"

The man nodded nervously. "Ri-"

"Meowth, 'dat's right!"

Dusk swerved on his heel to turn toward the sound. May and Brendan raised their eyebrows, while Latias seemed quite surprised. Dawn pointed at the shopkeepers. "I told you so!" she gloated.

The woman smirked. "We had something good, but since the cat squealed..."

"I guess you have some Pokémon that we would like to steal..." the man finished.

The female shopkeeper yanked her robe off to reveal her usual outfit. "On the wind!"

The man copied her, throwing his accessories behind the counter. "Past the stars!"

Meowth dragged himself from behind the counter. His head and arms were sagging low to the floor. "These two are gonna eat me for a meal..."

"Bringing-"

"Okay, okay, we get it," May moaned, shifting back to her female friend. "Dawn, I'm sorry we didn't listen to you."

"It's fine," Dawn replied, waving the apology off. "Let's just wipe these two-"

"Aw, no," Dusk interrupted, walking forward with a Pokéball in his hand. "They fooled me and May. We need some revenge."

May smirked at the invitation. She turned back around to Team Rocket.

"Hey, fine by me," Brendan stated, backing off to the wall to get out of the way.

Dawn and Latias both quietly followed him over.

"Annoying twerps...Interrupting our motto! Seviper!"

"Carnivine, let's go!" James shouted devilishly.

Both of Team Rocket's classic, if not competitively-challenged Pokémon exploded onto the small arena. For some reason, neither Rocket was very worried about any of the glass creations being destroyed.

"Um..." Dusk took a step back. "Wait. What happened to their 'I'ma-destroy-everything' Pokémon?"

May turned her head back to the underused Pokémon and agreed. "Hey, you're right..."

Jessie folded her arms stubbornly. "If you must know, we were kicked out of Team Magma because Blue over there stole that Absol."

May opened her mouth to speak, but a foot being stomped on the ground stopped her. She turned her head to Dawn, who seemed quite frustrated. Both hands were clenched. "Okay, you know something?" she angrily began. "I'm sick of it always being called 'that Absol.' There's nothing different about her! What is it, her coloring? All Pokémon have slightly different colors! My fa-" She allowed herself a pause to bite her quivering lip. "P-Professor Rowan was studying this same thing! It's really not that odd!"

Dusk closed his eyes... "_Dawn..._" ...Which didn't last long, as his eyes suddenly sprung back open. "_Wait, she has an Absol?_"

Brendan turned his head in another direction. He'd already figured that May wanted to stay out of the topic, so he was forced to fill in Dawn's blanks. "It's...not really the coloring..."

Instead of giving an angered look at Team Rocket, Dawn gave a surprised glance at her own partner. He did his best to avoid it. "What? You know what this is about?"

Negating Brendan's theory, May began walking towards the girl. "Dawn..." She got down on one knee and set a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "Your Absol's caught in something called...a Magma Ball."

"Magma Ball?" Dawn echoed, her mind slightly blank from May kneeling in front of her.

"It's a, um...type of Pokéball that Team Magma used to use. It greatly strengthens the Pokémon, but...sometimes, it'll go blind with rage, and won't be afraid to attack anything...including its own Trainer."

Dawn scuttled through her holdall and found the Magma Ball. She stared at the insignia in complete silence.

"Another team, known conveniently as Team Magma, used to use them all the time. When Team Magma was driven out, we thought all the Magma Balls went with them, but..."

Brendan sighed. "...Apparently not."

"Well...This is long," James stated, also folding his arms.

May turned her head and glowered at the opposing team. "Dawn, we'll help answer your questions later. Right now, it seems that I'm holding the party up." She stood up and got next to Dusk once again. She raised a Pokéball up to neck-level. "Wouldn't want that."

Dusk took a last hard grip onto his own Pokéball, then threw it towards the crowded battlefield. "You need more air time, Vesera."

Vesera twirled around and taunted her opponents with her paw. "Bunnneary!" She turned her head over her shoulder and immediately locked eyes with Wizard, who was still perched on Umbreon's shoulder. She gave him a wink. "Bun."

Wizard flushed. "Pi...ka."

Dawn giggled. "Hey, you watch yourself, Wizard. Ionu won't like getting played."

Wizard gave a nervous laugh. After his Co-Trainer's eyes were finally off of him, he turned to Dusk and whispered. "Pika, Pi chu?"

"Er...Not exactly..." he answered just as quietly.

May blinked at her teammate. "Umbreon? Is everything okay?"

"Fine as everything can be," he replied as casually as he could.

"...R-right. Let's go...Cherry!" May happily released her own Pokémon.

"What?" Brendan shouted, his eyes watching May's Pokéball like his life depended on it.

"What?" Dusk instantly echoed.

Vesera didn't appreciate no longer being the cutest Pokémon on the field, but did her best to forget about it. Instead, she watched as her partner ran around in circles, attempting the impossible task of catching its own pink tail.

Dusk narrowed his gaze onto the Pokémon as well. "Uh, May. Where did you get that?"

"Uhm...Gold traded it to me. Why?"

"Any idea where he got it?" Umbreon continued, ignoring May's question.

"Uhm..." May forced herself to think. The previous night had so many events happen in it, it was hard to remember a small detail like that. "I think he said somebody gave it to him. I don't remember the name, though." A smile grew on her face. "Why? Do you recognize it?"

Dusk finally faced his opponents once more. "Well...Yeah."

May blinked, stunned by the serious response.

Her attention was soon diverted. Without any warning, Brendan took two steps to the side. His eyes were on the Skitty the entire time. After hesitating, he turned to his side and bolted out the door.

May threw her hand up and started running after him. "Brend-"

"No, May, I'll go!" Dawn intervened. "You finish off Team Rocket already!" She started running for the door, but stopped when Latias began following her. "Latias, you stay here in case you need to fight Meowth, okay?" After getting a sad nod out of the silent girl, Dawn continued through the doorway.

Feeling no need to stay in her human form, Latias transformed into the red- and white-colored dragon everyone had come to recognize. She quickly hovered over to Team Rocket's side, where a depressed Meowth stood. She made a quick yelp.

"Nah, don't even bo'der," Meowth moaned, heaving a disappointed sigh. "I'm still too shook up from bein' caught like 'dat..."

James put his hand on Latias's face and pushed her away. He squatted down on one of Meowth's sides, while Jessie did the same on the other. "Meowth!" the male started triumphantly. "Failure is what Team Rocket knows best! We must play to our strengths!"

Jessie grabbed Meowth's cheek and forced him to look her way. "James is right, and you know how often I say that! So you screwed us up this time. How many times have we screwed you up?"

"Most of 'da third season, and 'dat's right off 'da top of my head," Meowth answered.

"Exactly!" James returned. "Now, go fight that dragon and lose! But do it in a fashion that will make Team Rocket proud once more!"

"You got it, Jimmy-boy!" Glowing with confidence, Meowth sidestepped James and took youthful hops to get to the unsuspecting Latias. "Hi-yah!" Claws extended, he leaped into the air and gave Latias three stinging slices straight across her cheek.

Latias's instinct forced her to hover high in the air to avoid a continued attack. She shook her head to try and recover from the burning pain. Failing at that, she looked down to the ground and glared at Meowth. She roared, not amused with the dishonorable tactic.

Meanwhile, Dusk blinked. "...I think that's the most pathetic cheering-up speech I've ever heard."

"The worst part is, it worked," May added, blinking right along with him.

Jessie and James got back to their feet. They nodded to each other, then turned back to face Team Missile. "All right! Let's go!" they both shouted.

"Vesera, get into the air!" Dusk commanded.

"Seviper, stop that thing where it moves! Use Sludge Bomb!" Jessie retaliated.

Knowing that she had to play a bit of defense to get into the air safely, Vesera used her Quick Attack to leap up instead of a normal jump. The decision helped to dodge a Sludge Bomb, but Vesera froze when she saw a second one flying directly towards her.

Dusk frowned, frustrated with himself that he'd underestimated their opponents. "Pound through it!"

Vesera did a quick roll through the air and ended with her foot extended toward the toxic assault. Gravity started taking effect, allowing the Buneary to pick up some momentum before crashing into it.

The offensive defense was successful, which put a smirk on Vesera's face. It didn't stay long before getting wiped off due to the aftereffects of her actions. The Sludge Bomb had exploded, releasing poisonous fumes near the ceiling. Vesera was caught in it, leaving her with no other option than to inhale. She instantly fell back to the ground and just barely managed to land on her feet.

She fell to the floor on one knee, looking up at Seviper weakly. "Buneary..." she muttered.

"Looks like Vesera's poisoned..." May put her hands on her upper legs and leaned forward. "Cherry, do you know Heal Bell?"

The Skitty turned her head around and looked at her new Trainer. "Nyaaaaa?"

"Okay, then. Sorry, Umbreon." The woman got back into a regular stance and pointed at Carnivine. "Then we'll just use Assist!"

Cherry pranced forward, happily running at her own pace. Three-quarters of the way to Carnivine, and she showed no signs of doing anything but a Tackle.

"Don't make me laugh!" James yelled, but started cracking up anyway. "Wait! Too late! Carnivine, use Crunch!"

Just as the Grass-type Pokémon began to hover towards the nearing Skitty, Cherry's tail caught on fire. Dusk stared at it for a moment, then started laughing. May and James blinked, while Carnivine came to a dead halt.

"Carni?" it questioned awkwardly.

Being close enough to land the hit, Cherry hopped into the air and swung its tail into Carnivine's face. The singing flame left a burn mark where it landed. Having a strong weakness to the lucky attack, Carnivine was slapped back to James' feet. It laid on the ground and didn't get up until a positive cheer was made by its Trainer. It slowly got back into the air, muttering curses at both Cherry and May.

The short silence that appeared in the area was enough to hear how the third battle was going.

"Oh, youse wants some'a 'dis? Oh, I'll give yas some'a-DAH!"

Meowth quieted when he got thrown into the wall by an uncharged but speedy Dragon Pulse. It made both May and Dusk chuckle before the Trainers turned back to their own battle.

**-OAM-**

While outwardly calm, Dawn wasn't sure what to expect while walking up to Brendan. She tried her best to sound confident, but understanding as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Brendan?"

The older Trainer, who had been leaning against the building with one hand, brought his head around. He caught sight of the blue hair, smiled a little, and turned his gaze back to the ash-covered grass beneath him. "Hey, Dawn."

"What happened back there?" Dawn asked meekly. "Did May's Skitty do something to you?"

"I suppose you could say that," replied Brendan blandly.

Dawn got to her friend's side and leaned on the house with her back. "Then what?"

"It doesn't matter." Brendan got off the wall, specifically so he could turn his back to Dawn again. "If she wants to use the stupid cat, I'm not going to stop her."

The girl said nothing for a few moments, since she was unsure of what she was supposed to say. In the meantime, she reached around her neck and tugged on a red string. She eventually freed the plastic pendant that Dusk had given her in Littleroot. She smiled at the sight of it, after having ignored it for awhile. "Brendan, can I ask you a question?" she asked, her eyes not moving from the letters imprinted on the necklace.

The Hoenn Trainer sighed, overall frustrated with the way that today's been so far. "Shoot."

"Why..." Dawn turned her head up to watch the back of Brendan's head. "Why don't you think it matters?"

"Just...because," he answered awkwardly. "I'm fine, Dawn."

"...Are you afraid to tell me what's wrong?" Dawn pressed on.

At first, silence. "That's stupid," he finally said, forcing a chuckle.

"Is it?" Dawn lifted her head to the sky. Her eyes watched a cloud lifelessly pass. "Brendan, out of our group, you're the only one whose weaknesses...I don't know." Brendan raised an eyebrow while Dawn continued. "May's is obvious. She can't stand seeing anyone, or thing, in any sort of pain. As for Dusk-I'm back on calling him Dusk, by the way- he's shown, and even told me that his weakness...is me. He needs me. But...you..." Dawn returned to looking at the rear side of Brendan's head. "You're just this...rock that can't be taken down by anything. At least...that's what you want me and Dusk to think."

Brendan wanted to say something. He just wasn't sure what.

"Brendan, I'm thrilled that we have somebody to turn to when we just need to laugh. But...that doesn't mean that you're not a human, either." Dawn's eyes returned to the pendant. "You have problems, just like the rest of us. And when you don't tell us about these problems, at least me and Dusk, we start to feel...I don't know, alienated, I guess? Just...Like, we're good friends, but not good enough to come to for problems."

Brendan smirked. He rubbed his eyes, wanting to hide how close Dawn had got to the truth. "Sounds like you and Umbry had a discussion about this once."

"I don't need to talk to him about it," Dawn answered peacefully. "What can I say? The boy's predictable. But besides that, I guess we don't really need to tell each other everything. The other...just knows it. You and May are probably the same." The girl placed the pendant behind her shirt once again. She got off the wall and faced Brendan for a last time. "Anyway, if you don't want to tell me about what's bothering you right now, that's okay. Just remember that...Dusk and I know better than to think you're Superman, you know? You have problems, and we want to help you. Just like you always help us."

Silence weaved its way in again. The girl was getting silently frustrated that her friend wasn't cooperating all that well, but again reminded herself that being understanding was a priority. With nothing else going on in the vicinity, she huffed a little sigh and turned her head towards the door.

"Anyway, I'm going to go see how the other two are doing. You're pretty quiet, so I hope I didn't say anything wrong, or something."

"Nah, nah," Brendan confirmed, waving it off. "I'm glad you told me that. Gives me something else to think about other than how hungry I am. Gold stole most of my breakfast earlier."

Dawn laughed, making her way back around to the front door. "Well...Come in when you're ready, okay?" Not counting on an answer, the girl slowly walked up to the door and pulled it open.

"..._Guess that was a long time in-coming._" Brendan folded his arms, fixed his posture, and gave a sigh of his own.

**-OAM-**

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me! Vesera, Pound!"

After minutes of being sapped of energy via poison, Dusk knew that Vesera's number was coming up. Her final moments hadn't gone to waste, however; the Buneary had succeeded in running circles around Seviper, taking cheap shots at the many available opportunities that she had found. Both were equally tuckered out, though Vesera's remaining strength had a time limit, while Seviper's did not.

Getting to her feet one last time, Vesera sped toward the glass counter. She pushed forward, leaping through the air, and crashing her feet into the plexiglass display case. She used that to bounce off of, gaining tremendous velocity toward her opponent.

Seviper was too tired to dodge another attack. It lowered its head and hissed while waiting for the final blow.

Using its own free will and a clumsy shout of its own name, Carnivine opened its mouth and hurled a countless amount of energy balls toward Vesera. The rabbit Pokémon didn't see the Bullet Seed coming in time, causing her to ram into the attack unprepared. She plummeted the small distance to the floor, no longer able to move her body.

Jessie and James looked at each other. The woman smiled and nodded her gratitude. When their heads turned back, they saw Cherry bolting towards them. Before James could even open his mouth, the Skitty hopped into the air and spun around, smacking Carnivine with her out-stretched tail. She repeated the process another time, completing her Double Slap. Carnivine was whacked off to the side, which opened up a hole for Seviper.

The Poison-type Pokémon swung its own tail into Cherry, slamming her back into the earth. The dust on the floor exploded into the room from the single maneuver.

Cherry struggled to her feet and glared helplessly at Seviper, who had somehow gained a boost of energy. "...Nyah..." she gasped.

"Ugh...Dangit!" May cursed. Though lacking the strength that it could have possibly held, Dusk was surprised to hear May say such a rough word at all.

The boy kept silent about it as he returned his incapacitated Pokémon to its home. "You did good, V."

"Pika pi," Wizard agreed, looking at the Pokéball with a depressed expression.

At that moment, the door opened. All the Trainers turned to see who was entering, though Latias was too busy beating Meowth to have noticed.

Dawn entered, then glanced around the awkwardly quiet room. She scanned the battle, only to be surprised to see the challenge in favor of Team Rocket. "...Hey," she said quietly.

"Everything all right with Brendan?" Dusk asked, ignoring the now-impatient Team Rocket.

"He'll be okay. But I did get to thinking of something, though..." Dawn fell backwards, trusting the door behind her to catch her. She leaned on it and slightly cocked her head to the side. "...Why are we fighting Team Rocket?"

May and Dusk looked at each other, then to Team Rocket. The bad guys were staring back at them, equally surprised by the question. All four turned back to Dawn, expecting an explanation.

Having eight eyes pierce her skin, Dawn suddenly felt uneasy and stared at the floor. "I mean...When we fought them in Sinnoh, they were a part of Team Galactic. And when we fought them in Littleroot, they were a part of, what was it? Team Magma? When you think about it, they really didn't do anything to instigate a fight this time."

"I guess..." May slowly craned her head towards Dusk. "...she's right. It was just sort of an automatic reaction."

"Sooo..." Dusk rubbed the back of his head. He lifted his eyes up to both Rockets. "...Sorry?"

James took a single stomp forward and proudly pounded his chest with his fist. "Now you listen here! If it kills me, I am going to get us back into Team Magma, and you-"

Like a streak of lightning, Jessie ran to her partner's side and covered his mouth with her glove. She put her mouth up to his ear so she could whisper her words. "Now you listen here. Maybe we beat the first round of their Pokémon, but we're going to get crushed, if not by that Pikachu or any of their other Pokémon, then by that stupid dragon that's beating the crap out of Meowth. They're on the verge of leaving, so if we make them feel guilty for challenging us, then they'll get out of our way. We can finish this match once, and if, we get back into Team Magma."

"Oh...right," James agreed softly, though not quite to a whisper. "The blue-haired chick is right, twerps!" he yelled across the building. "You dare to challenge us when we're innocent bystanders in all this? How _dare_ you!"

May coiled backwards, never having been lectured by James before. Dusk's reaction was blank. A part of him wasn't believing how heavily James was milking this.

Without moving her head, Dawn looked at her indigo-haired rival. "...Could you not call me that?"

"Look, twerps," Jessie began while recalling Seviper. "We already know that beret over there is skating on thin ice. If we run off to the cops and tell them that we're being assaulted by him, that will only put him in a worse position than he's already in."

Dusk tapped his foot on the ground. He stared into Jessie's eyes, anger bubbling inside him. "So, basically, you're blackmailing me."

"Well..." Jessie put her hand on her hip. "I could try to weasel my way around that, but I actually like how 'blackmail' sounds. So, yes, basically."

To interrupt the negotiation, Dawn felt footsteps coming up behind her. She quickly jumped off of the door, getting away just in time before it opened. A calm Brendan walked in and was surprised to see the lack of action. "Did I already miss the party?"

James raised a Pokéball up and recalled the waiting Carnivine. Understanding that they were in a mutual agreement with Team Rocket, May reluctantly did the same for Cherry. "Turns out that we should just leave, Brendan..." May explained, eyeing the bad guys suspiciously.

"Oh, uhh...All right," he replied, confused but unwilling to question the decision.

Jessie turned to her side and looked behind her, where the action hadn't yet ceased. "Meowth, stop humiliating yourself. We're done fighting."

Seconds before ramming into Meowth with her head, Latias halted her flight and looked at Jessie blankly. The tip of her eye caught sight of Dawn, who she turned to instead. She yelped, to which Dawn gave a nod.

Nervously, Latias morphed back into Dawn and ran over to the group.

"Yeah, youse bett'a run..." Meowth warned. He was unable to stand up straight, talk coherently, and his right eye was black-and-blue. He fell to the ground unconscious a moment later.

With a "hmph," Jessie and James both turned around and walked behind the glass counter. When they realized that Meowth wasn't conscious, James ran back over to him and grabbed him. He looked at Team Missile, gave another "hmph," and followed after Jessie.

"Oh..." Dawn brought her hand up to Latias's face. She tried touching the claw marks on her friend's face soothingly, but Latias withdrew from her reach in fear. "Latias, you got injured..."

"One step ahead of you," Brendan announced. Before anybody could react, he reached a hand holding a spray bottle forward and squeezed the lever.

The result was frustrating, stinging pain. However, it was only moments before the Potion's effect kicked in and began to heal the open wounds. She not only felt the Potion pain going away, but the injury Meowth had handed her was leaving with it. She nodded to Brendan, but staying true to her nature, it was rather timid.

"That'd be my pleasure." After tucking the used bottle away for later recycling, Brendan turned to the team's one and only leader. "I suppose there's no point in staying here, then. You good with keepin' on moving, Cap?"

Dusk just barely hid a smile as he stepped past the group and toward the door. "Fine by me."

Everyone followed him out with Dawn being the last. She shut the door behind her, though she couldn't get far.

There was a back-up of the entire team, causing her to almost bump into Latias. She peeked around the side. Upon spotting the reason for the traffic jam, her eyes enlarged to an unhealthy size.

Standing no more than thirty yards from Team Missile's leader was a boy in a red beret. He wore a wrinkled black t-shirt, half of it being hidden by his orange-colored vest. His ink-colored jeans covered a portion of his white running sneakers. On his left shoulder was an apathetic Pikachu.

He stared at the group, much like they were doing to him. Unlike them, however, he seemed to be watching them in absolute shock. After a moment passed, he took two baby steps backwards, then turned on his heel and ran.

Dusk immediately tore after the one he's known so long as his imposter. While doing it, the only thing pounding faster than his heart was his legs. "Get **back** here!" he yelled with scorn in every letter.


	15. Confessions Around A Campfire

The chase continued until everybody was a little past the half-way mark of Route 113. Dusk had to use all of his strength to keep the imposter in his sights. Being the fastest members of the team, Brendan and Wizard tried bolting even faster in an attempt to catch up to him. However, their attempt was stopped when the enemy noticed them, resulting in him dashing even faster.

Latias was starting to get annoyed by the person's strange amount of agility. She took initiative, transforming into a dragon, and leaving the other girls' sides. She caught up to Umbreon and gave a quick yell.

Not needing to ask questions, Dusk hopped on top of Latias. The dragon picked up to a neck-breaking speed, and soon enough easily overtook Dusk's mirror.

The true Umbreon got off Latias and rolled on the ground. Just as quickly was he back on his feet. Latias stayed hovering in the air next to him, staring at the rival brutally.

His way was blocked. He came to a screeching halt and tried turning around, forgetting that reinforcements were right behind him. He stopped for another moment to look around.

Team Missile had surrounded him on all sides.

"Talk," Dusk ordered, masking his lack of breath.

He turned toward his target and stared, much the same look that Latias was giving him.

On the opposite side him, Brendan crunched his own finger bones with the opposite hand. "We don't have all day."

He shifted to Brendan. His glare loosened, but again, he said nothing.

May opened her mouth to be the next one to demand an explanation, but cut herself off when Dawn began walking forward.

This time, she had twelve eyes total watching her from Pokémon and human alike. It didn't slow her down in the least. She got in front of Umbreon's imposter and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "_What_ is your problem?"

The entire team was surprised at the amount of courage Dawn showed, but didn't bring themselves to say anything.

Dawn brought him within an inch of her own face. "My _boyfriend_ is playing Duck-and-Run because of you. It's not a fun game."

Dusk blinked. Being emphasized in that context caught him off-guard. Still, he forced himself to stay focused.

"I'll speak for myself here," Dawn went on. "I really don't care what story you have. The only thing I care about is that you fix the mess that you got my _boyfriend_ into."

"...Dawn?" May asked meekly.

She turned her head around, accidentally hitting May with the same leer that 'Dusk' was getting. "What?"

"Um..." The woman took a fearful step back. "Nothing."

Dawn turned back around. Instead of the apathetic expression she had been staring at, she was greeted with a smirk.

The boy placed a hand on the back of the Pikachu that was on his shoulder. Without questioning his own actions, he pushed it straight off.

It tumbled to the ground, only to not react like a living creature at all. The group watched in curiosity as it kept robotically repeating, "Pika. Pika. Pika." Without a warning, the Pikachu's entire body flashed.

It exploded into an instant ball of smoke, pouring the vision-hindering substance over the entire field in the blink of an eye.

Everybody was in too much shock to say anything except Dawn. She gave a worried scream as she felt herself get pushed, along with a moan of agony when she crashed painfully to the ground.

Besides that, the only sound that could be heard was footsteps blasting away.

Dusk, not wanting his imposter to get away, ran out of the smoke shield. When he reached the edge of the barrier, all he saw was a soul-lacking Route 113.

"Dang it."

Time passed on until the idea to send out Pelipper finally hit May. The large seagull flapped its wings, which greatly helped in pushing away the haze. The entire team was back in sight of each other. Dawn was rubbing her aching posterior, but besides that, the only movement was looking around for Dusk's imposter.

May sighed, silently admitting that she quit. "Dawn, are you okay?"

"Yeah...Wounded pride, more than anything," she answered with a sad smile. Her eyes turned to Umbreon, who had his back to the entire group. "Dusk, I'm so sorry. I mean, I had him-"

"No, it's my fault," May countered. "I distracted you, which gave him time to set off that bomb."

"Actually, it's Wizard's fault," Brendan pointed out.

Wizard glared up to the fellow headbanded teammate. "Pi ka?" he asked angrily.

Brendan gave a light shrug. "I dunno. Just thought I'd get the blame off everybody else."

Dawn worriedly turned her attention back to her closest friend. "Dusk? Are you okay?"

Dusk took a deep breath before responding. Even then, it took him a moment. "...The good news is that we got some information out of that. It's interesting, to say the least, that he can't control a real Pikachu."

Nobody said anything. It opened up an opportunity for the frustrated, but calm Dusk to show his face to his team. "The fact is that we're no worse off after that event than we were before it, and now we know a little bit more about what we're dealing with, including how fast this guy can run." He turned back around to face towards the eastern direction. "Latias, I loved what you did. That worked once, and it might work again. When we find him again, we might need to rely on you. Are you okay with that?"

Latias instantly nodded her head. She gave a happy shout to confirm the question.

Once again, the team went without words for a few moments. After mentally running through a recap of his current life, Dusk continued his orders. "Let's keep moving forward. Not like heading back towards Fallarbor will do us anything."

The first one to make movement was Latias. She turned back into Dawn's clone and got to her twin's side. Those two quickly caught up to Umbreon, who was already beginning to head further down Route 113. After an unsure look at each other, the Hoenn Trainers gave a slow chase.

"Dawn?" Dusk began, feeling that the other two were far back enough to not hear the conversation. "Can I talk to you later tonight? We'll go for a walk or something."

"Um...Yeah, probably."

Dusk turned his head to look at her. "'Probably'?"

Dawn bit her lip. Simultaneously, her head fell. As always, her long hair helped block her eyes from view. "I was thinking about...you know, letting Latias take over for a little while tonight."

Latias jerked her head from a whimsical, wild Beautifly to Dawn. An understandable mix of confusion and excitement was plastered onto her face.

Only the former emotion was shared with Dusk. "Really?"

"Just for a little bit..." Dawn attempted to argue. "But, besides, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time after that." She lifted her head back up to see where she was walking. Her eyes still strayed from either of her friends. "So, to answer your question, sure."

The rear of the group was quieter than the front. The only sound going through May's head was her own thoughts. "_Those two can be so...radically different sometimes_." She clasped her arms together happily and watched her friends from Sinnoh mingle with one another. "_Dawn got so protective of Umbreon...And Umbreon changed into a really motivational leader when he was explaining what he wanted to do. He was obviously mad, but he hid all that just so none of us would feel bad. And now_..." May smiled as Dusk sneezed, garnering sympathy from his partner. "..._Well, they're both back to their usual selves_."

May giggled, which got Brendan to look at her oddly. She ignored it. "_Those two were made for each other_."

"Uh...Hey, May," Brendan said, hoping to snap his friend out of the trance she seemed to be in, "Was your Pokénav screwing up for a few days?"

May jerked her head towards Brendan. "Yes!" she answered, glad that the forgotten subject had risen up. "It was so strange. Ever since we got separated, my Pokénav was acting very oddly. It wasn't until you called yesterday that it worked again, I think..." She quickly searched through her waist bag and snatched the red machine. She tapped a few buttons on it, then cocked her head to the side. "Huh. It's working fine now."

Brendan peered over May's shoulder, glancing at what she was doing on the Pokénav. "Yeah. Remember that fog that we went through? I'm kind of wondering if that somehow set them on tilt. Mine was acting the same exact way yours was. I'm not sure what the fog would has to do with anything, but...Bah. That's technology for you."

"Tell me about it." May set the contraption back into her pack, then brought her hands behind her back. She closed her eyes, trusting that there were no objects in the otherwise-flat road to trip over. "When you called yesterday, I could barely make out a word that you said."

"That one was my fault. I was forced to call from the Gym, and you know how bad the reception is in there..."

Dusk and Dawn's muffled voices were all that the Hoenn Trainers heard. After some time passed, May finally said, "Yeah," recognizing Brendan's previous observation and hoping that it would spark some other discussion.

Aside from that, May's wish of being alone with Brendan was spoiled by a severe lack of conversation.

-**OAM**-

The rest of the day was spent moving forward. Besides a few quips by Brendan, the Trainers mostly kept to their respective team. The words, "Three's a crowd," crossed Dusk's mind a couple times through-out the day, but after everything Latias had done for him, he knew it'd be rude to shun her now. He only talked when spoken to, which was crucial for him when Dawn began sharing her perfume secrets with Latias.

The entire team bypassed supper, not even realizing that it was getting dark out until it was too late. With the sun only minutes from disappearing for the day, the Sinnoh Trainers stopped and waited for their friends to catch up.

When that happened, Brendan put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Well, doesn't this scream 'ironic.'"

In spite of the mostly-open plains of Route 113, the group was trapped in a sea of trees. Resembling an event from the past, they found themselves with a notable lack of sleeping bags.

"Tell you what. Why don't the ladies decide our futures?" Brendan turned his head to the side to peer into the forest deeper. "Umbry, wanna come with me and go grab some firewood?"

"Now I can call my day complete." Dusk already started stepping away from the group.

Before he got far, Wizard took the opportunity to jump off of his Trainer's shoulder. He scampered towards May and leapt for her stomach, knowing that he'd get caught.

May laughed as the yellow fur collided with her. She watched the Pikachu as it nuzzled itself into her shirt and let out a sigh of comfort. She gave Umbreon a quiet smile, permitting him to continue on with Brendan.

"Oof!" Dawn groaned as Latias surprised her from the back, throwing her arms over Dawn's shoulders. She smiled and slowly stroked the extra pair of hands. "Wizard's taken quite a liking to you," Dawn stated, eyes on May.

"I think I know what you want," May said suspiciously, balancing a tired Wizard with one hand while another reached into her pouch. She pulled out a Pokéball and released Ionu.

Before the Trainer could introduce the two to each other, the Torchic spun around and spat madness at May. "Torchic, chic, Torchic chic Torchic tor! Torchic, tor-"

"I'm sorry, Torchic," May interrupted, trying to hold back her laughter. "...I mean, Ionu, sorry. Today's been an uneventful day, so I just figured you'd rather stay in your ball. That's all, really!"

Ionu spun around. "Torchic," she stated crossly.

May squatted down on her knees. She put a hand on Ionu's back lightly. "But you did get me thinking," she started softly, "Would you like it better if I gave your Pokéball to Dawn?"

Ionu curiously turned her head to her side. "Torchic?"

"May?" Dawn echoed in English.

"You can think about it, okay?" May set Wizard, who had seemed to fall asleep, on the grass next to Ionu. She stood back up and dusted her knees off. "I...feel better now. At first, I was scared that I wouldn't see Torchic again for awhile, but after all this time..." She took a quick glance at Ionu before turning back to Dawn. "...I'm just not sure if it's fair for me to keep her Pokéball anymore. But, you two can talk about that when you're more comfortable about it, okay? So, if the boys are willing to do as we command, who gets the sleeping bag?" she shifted subjects with a grin.

"It doesn't matter to me. You can fight over it with the boys. I'll sleep with Latias on the grass," Dawn replied blandly, continuing to stroke Latias's arm.

Unknowingly to her, the action was making Latias blush. The dragon was hiding it in Dawn's back.

"But, Dawn-"

Dawn turned her head in a different direction. "Not like I'm not used to it..." she mumbled.

Having genuinely not heard her, May leaned forward. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing!" she replied with a convincing amount of cheerfulness. "Forget it."

-**OAM**-

It was only ten more minutes until the males got back to the designated camping spot, arms stuffed with firewood. While Dusk and May stacked the wood up, Brendan lazily reached into his backpack and pulled out a match. By the time he found one, the fire was ready to be lit.

An hour was spent chatting. Brendan and May gave the Sinnoh Trainers a short history lesson about Route 113, including details about the local volcano that they were in the process of walking right around. Memories, randomness, and future strategy were other subjects brought up during the time together. During the last five minutes of the recollection of when the two teams first met up with each other, Dawn spaced out. Her mind fell only on one thing.

"...Then when you two pulled that stunt on Roark?" Dusk continued the conversation, holding back his exhausted laughter. At the memory of the Oreburgh event, the Hoenn Trainers didn't bother to suppress their own laughter. "You should try doing that again, just to see if he'll fall for it."

"Wouldn't doubt it," Brendan added, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Um...Guys?" Dawn cut in. All eyes predictably fell on her, which didn't help her timid mood any. "You wouldn't mind if...you hung out with Latias for awhile, would you?"

The human-dragon, who was half asleep in Dawn's lap, perked back up. She sat up straight and eagerly awaited the response.

The two boys looked at each other. May was about to ask, "What are you talking about? Latias is right there!" but then realized what Dawn meant. She gulped before answering for the entire team. "Of course not, but..."

Dawn looked at her friend curiously. "But what?"

May forced a small smile. "Just...be careful, okay?"

The girl returned the favor before getting to her legs. "Oh, Latias, are you comfortable doing it here, or would you rather head into the forest first?"

"_That could be taken out of context_," Brendan thought to himself, preferring to hide his own feelings about this situation.

Latias nodded. She got to her own feet, then ran excitedly towards the brush. Lacking the amount of energy that her young friend had, Dawn only followed her with a walk.

"I wonder...what that was about?" May started conversation while they waited. "Why they need to do it in secret, I mean."

Brendan rested his hands on the grass behind his back and leaned on them. He watched the glittering stars while he answered. "I'm sure it's just a survival instinct. If Latias can't be in two places at once, she probably just wants to keep her otherwise-vulnerable body out of the way."

Dusk laid back on the grass, throwing his hands behind his head for comfort. Wizard, who was covered up with his Trainer's beret and sleeping soundly, was right next to his elbow. "Weird. You'd think that a Professor's kid would have gotten that."

At first, the statement flew over May's head. A vein popped out of that same head when she realized what he was getting at. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well...Kid's got a point," Brendan pushed. "I've put a lot of time into studying Pokémon, but you'd think that, for being Birch's daughter, you would have just naturally figured that out. For being the child of someone so smart, you're surprisingly...dumb."

"Hey!" That was the last straw that May could take. She got to her knees, then leapt towards Brendan. Though she tackled him to the ground, he kept an elite smirk on his face. It was only more amusing to watch May's angered expression. "I'm not stupid! I'm just tired! Give me a break!"

"Suuure you are..." Brendan rubbed in. "Face it, May, you're the blondest brunette in Hoenn."

"Ugh! Bre-"

Without a warning, Brendan raised his neck up so his forehead could touch May's. He managed to get a small kiss from the position he was in.

Dusk, who could only hear the clacking of the lip embrace, smiled to himself. Though he wanted to, he forced himself to say nothing.

At the worst possible time, a fourth member shyly joined the party. May rolled off of Brendan and sat beside him. Her face was tinted red from Brendan's questionable motives. "Latias?" May asked quietly, wishing to confirm.

The modest girl inhabiting Dawn's body only worked the strength up to nod her head. "Hi..." she greeted, almost worriedly.

May couldn't overcome her nervousness, and the boys suddenly turning quiet didn't help. She hated the thought of Dawn being kicked out of her own body, but hated even more to think about the thought. Dawn had let Latias do this on trust, and May needed to respect that. "So, Latias, why don't you tell us something about yourself? Where were you born?"

Latias brought her legs up and grappled her hands around them in a secure manner. She spoke carefully, pausing often to make sure she was connecting her words correctly. "It is true that I was born...in a cavern. I believe it is known as...Granite Cave?"

"Oh, really?" May folded her legs. "That's just off of Dewford Town. That's fascinating, Latias."

Latias nodded her head. She set some of Dawn's hair behind her ear. "After I was...excluded from my clan, my friend and I stayed in an area. It was known as...Mount Pyre."

There was silence, which neither girl did anything to cure. Brendan voiced up to avoid further awkwardness. "You know, Latias, it's actually a little bit interesting that you mention that."

"Oh?" Latias said, intrigued.

"I've read that other Latios and Latias like the great outdoors, some on record of never even stepping foot inside of so much as a building," Brendan continued. "Yet, here you are, being the exception, not the rule. You were born in a cave and lived most of your life in a mountain. Likewise, Umbry first found you in Mount Coronet."

Latias showed a timid grin. "I am...not very familiar with your lore. It sounds highly interesting, however. Perhaps sometime later, you could...share more with me?"

"Uh..." Brendan blinked, unprepared to get assaulted with such strange words from who his mind kept tricking him into believing was Dawn. "Sure, sounds good."

Latias nodded at the deal. "Very good."

May's mind was raked with another question, but half-way through saying Latias's name, a tune began playing from her Pokénav. Forgetting the inquiry for a second, she reached into the holding compartment and pulled the contraption out. Latias stared at it with an increasing amount of interest from across the campfire while May gazed into the backlit screen to see who was contacting her. "It's a text message, but I...don't recognize this number," she stated. After pressing down on a button, the screen changed to show the written letter. She read it silently to herself.

"_Hey bb. TTY tomorrow. Nice I got ur number, eh?_"

"Uhm..." was May's only verbal response to it.

"What's it say?" her curious boyfriend wondered.

"It's nothing. I-I think."

May didn't even know how she felt about the message, so worrying the team with it wasn't going to help anything. She nearly set the phone back where it had come from, but got interrupted first.

"May?"

The woman turned her eyes up. They found Dawn's head, tilted on its side, watching the Pokénav in her hand closely.

"May I...see that?"

May followed Latias's eyes, then lifted her hand up. "This? Of course." May got to her feet and walked over to her. Once there, she handed Latias the Pokénav before sitting down next to her.

Latias held the item awkwardly as her eyes constantly scanned over it. "So this is...a device for communication?"

"Right," May answered. She was beginning to feel a bond forming between her and Latias, but was too worried that it was simply because Latias was in Dawn's body to say anything about it. "It has many functions, and a cell phone is just one of them."

Nervously, Latias lifted the machine to her ear. "Hello?"

May let out a loud laugh. She rubbed the girl's back as she recovered. "Latias, you're so cute!"

Latias flushed with embarrassment. "I..."

"You need to call somebody first." May gently reached for her Pokénav back so she could better explain the details. "For now, we'll just call Brendan, okay? So, you just hit this button..."

As May went on with her explanation, Dusk felt himself yawn. He continued laying on the moderately comfortable grass. His mind automatically tuned all other conversation out while his focus shifted to his thoughts. "_Latias...She's quite a character. I trust her, but I still can't help but wonder_..."

"Oh...Umbreon?"

Dusk opened his eyes up and turned to the two girls. Latias had interrupted May mid-speech with quite a disappointed expression.

"You are...tired?" she continued sadly.

The boy blinked sleepily. "...Yeah, a bit. Why?"

Latias rubbed at the Pokénav's paintjob. "You...and Dawn. You two commonly sleep close to each other. I am not in a position to deprive you of that."

"Um..." Dusk couldn't get any other word out of his mouth.

Latias rose to her feet. She dusted her night-colored jean shorts off. "I th-"

"Latias, no!" May interrupted, hopping to her feet as well. "That's not very fair to Dawn..."

In confusion, Latias cocked her head to the side again. "What...do you mean?"

Though silent almost the entire time, Brendan was still very much there. Like Latias, he was rather interested in hearing May's explanation.

May anxiously rubbed her foot into the ground. She knew that all eyes were on her. "I mean...Dawn suffers from a headache after every time you do this, right? So she probably wants you to spend more time with us then..." Having it conveniently in her hand, May lifted her Pokénav up. Waiting on the screen for her was a digital clock. "ten minutes. Besides, Umbreon, you don't mind, do you?"

"N-no, I guess n-"

"See? At least hang out with us for..." Once again, May resorted to her makeshift watch. It was only a quarter of an hour more until the time became 11PM. "Another fifteen minutes?"

Latias showed a weak smile. "I would...like that. Thank you all...for accepting me, considering the circumstances."

"Of course!" May answered. "As long as Dawn's okay with it, of course we don't have a problem with it. Anyway, did you still want to try calling on the Pokénav?" she asked, extending the machine towards Latias.

She accepted the temporary gift cautiously, fearful of somehow breaking it. "So I...tap this trigger, correct?"

"Mm-hm..." While glancing over Latias's shoulder, an idea hit May. "Oh, if you two are tired, Latias and I will keep it quiet. I'll stay up and make sure Dawn's able to get to sleep."

Brendan shrugged. He secretly enjoyed being the last one of the group awake, simply so he knew that everyone else was resting peacefully. Dusk, on the other hand, happily accepted the invitation. He laid back and closed his eyes while another yawn passed through his mouth.

"Want my sleeping bag?" Brendan asked.

"Nah," Dusk waved off. "_Do got to wonder how Dawn did this for two months, though_..." he silently added.

A short time passed, and Latias was finally getting used to the human contraption. When she was finally confident enough that all of the information had been entered right, she used her finger to press down on the button that May was pointing to.

Brendan closed his eyes as a low-beating wind rushed through his hair. A smile brightened up his face when the Pokénav attached to his belt began going off. Knowing that it was just Latias, he didn't even bother to answer it. "_I think the women are the only ones comfortable with the idea of a brain-controlling dragon_..."

"Oh, and if you want to see a map of Hoenn, just hit this button!" May explained, pressing a trigger on the Pokénav while Latias held on to it.

While Latias tried to show amusement in the tour of the device, her mind wouldn't drift away from the time limit that she had given herself. She nodded her head in recognition of the advice before rounding out her remaining thoughts. "May?" she began extra quietly. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Latias," May answered, copying her friend's discreetness. "You can always ask me anything."

Latias felt her own heart warm up with appreciation. She ignored the fuzzy feeling and continued with her question. "That boy...His name is...Brendan?"

May gave herself a wide smile, now that she understood why they needed to talk in secret. "That's right," she answered, hoping Brendan couldn't overhear them.

"Thank you." Latias's head fell. Her voice remained at the same volume. "Also...May?"

"Mm-hm?" the woman prodded, keeping her eyes on Latias.

"I've...never got a chance to thank you." Latias ran her index finger through a few blades of grass. After that diversion tactic failed, she lifted up her hand and stared into her palm. "You have kept my...secret from Dawn."

"Oh..." May's expression sank a little. "...That."

"I have come to the understanding that humans...They avoid...strong relations if certain conditions aren't met. It is unfortunate that I needed to learn that the difficult way, but it is a fact duly noted."

May lifted a hand slowly to her chest. "Oh, Latias, it's not that humans..." She ended her sentence prematurely when she realized that she couldn't easily finish it.

The buried statement was enough to give Latias the strength to look at May and give her a weak smile. "Say nothing, May. I think I will always have a...crush on Dawn, but I am very glad to have her as a friend, at the very least. And...you, as well."

May giggled softly to herself, still trying to keep the conversation from reaching Brendan's ears.

"May, I was hoping to ask one final question..." Latias looked at her fingernails. "My secret...Does it bother you?"

"Hm..." May brought her knees up to her chin as she contemplated the question. "No, it doesn't bother me. I don't think it's such a terrible thing to be in your position. If I could just ask one favor, though..." Her head turned to the leader of the team. "Remember Umbreon. He's very special to Dawn. I'm not saying that you aren't, of course, but those two...Well, do you know where I'm going with this?"

Latias tried to smile. It didn't end with much success. "I...am not sure."

May went through the same thing, though her smile came out a little better. She rested the side of her head on her legs and looked at Latias. "I was afraid that would hurt you. I'm sorry, Latias. To answer your question, no, I'm not upset at all. I guess I just want everybody to be happy. I couldn't stand if a war broke out between you and Umbreon over Dawn, just because Dawn would have to pick a side, and I know that she could never do that. I hope that was better?"

The young dragon finally grinned. She closed her eyes and didn't speak for a few moments. "May, you are...a wonderful person."

"...Hm?"

"You don't want...Dawn and I together not because it is, by human standards...'wrong,' but for the best interest of the team. You want everybody to be happy..." She opened her eyes and gave May a content look. May could easily identify it as genuine. "...And I do not have a problem with that."

May's expression downgraded from shock to gentle surprise.

"Thank you...for accepting my feelings for Dawn. And, thank you, again...for keeping them a secret from the rest of this group. And, thank you...for being my friend."

"Latias, I-"

The dragon gave her no time to speak before leaving her vessel. May panicked as Dawn's temporarily-unconscious body nearly fell into the fire, which forced the woman to extend her reach and grab Dawn by the shirt.

It was only a moment before Dawn opened her eyes. Like clockwork, she raised a palm to her aching forehead. "...Ow..."

"Hi, Dawn..." May greeted meekly.

Dawn tried to focus long enough to grasp what was going on. When she remembered her last memory was giving Latias permission to do her thing, she let out a sigh of relief. If that was her only problem, she told herself. "May? What time is it?"

Even though she was back in control, May feared that Dawn still wasn't able to balance herself. She kept her hands on her friend's arms just in case. "A little after eleven. Do you feel okay?"

"I will be...I hope." Dawn lifted her neck up so she could stare at the stars. She found a smile on her face. "Did you...have fun?"

May brought her arms back to herself and laughed. "Latias is a blast!" Her excitement quickly dwindled. She stared at Dawn worriedly. "Er, I'm sorry...That could probably be taken the wrong way, considering everything..."

"As long as you guys enjoy hanging out with her, I really don't mind..." Her eyes fell back to the ground. They landed specifically on her snoring boyfriend. "I see Dusk remains the party animal of the group." She sighed. "But...I'm tired. I guess I'll join him. Will you tell me about Latias tomorrow? I love hearing everything she has to say...She sounds so interesting..."

May nodded. "Sure, of course."

"Thanks, May..." Dawn yawned as she began crawling over to Dusk. "Oh, tell Latias that she can come sleep near me, if she wants..." With a pounding head and only half of her consciousness, Dawn tumbled onto Dusk, snuggling her head into his chest. He fidgeted slightly, but didn't wake up.

May stood up and dusted herself off. She walked over to Brendan's side, but didn't get a chance to sit down before hearing footsteps stampeding towards her.

She turned around to see a second Dawn standing right in front of her. Her arms were behind her back, and a smile was happily on her face. "Oh, Latias. Dawn said that if-"

Latias leaned forward and kissed May on the side of her neck. She quickly pulled back, her smile not having faded in the least.

May felt herself become paralyzed, and was terrified to turn around to see what Brendan's reaction was. She gulped and tried to remember the true meaning of that gesture. "Y-You-You're welcome...L-Latias."

"...Right," Brendan said quietly, not wanting to disturb the Sinnoh Trainers. "You can take my sleeping bag, May."

"Yeah, thanks..." May replied, still too stunned to argue. Latias not moving from her spot didn't help any.

Brendan finally unequipped his backpack and found the necessary item. He rolled it out for his beloved teammate to rest in, then casually laid down next to it.

Latias wasn't about to let May forget about what had just happened. After the tall woman fell onto the sleeping bag, Latias took a nervous seat next to her. She laid her head on May's stomach for a moment, then lifted it back up to see May's expression.

May approved the silent request with a smile. "Of course you can sleep over here, Latias."

Latias peacefully rested her head back onto May's mid-section. Giving Latias a feeling of protection and nostalgia, May ran her hand through the strands of Latias's hair at a gentle pace. The fire crackling and Dusk's loud breathing were the only sounds the team had to fall asleep to.

"I get to do that tomorrow night," Brendan claimed.

May contained her laughter.

-**OAM**-

Dawn blinked her eyes as she watched the stars far above her. She lifted her arm up to look at her watch. She moaned when she saw the time to be a little after 03:00.

She sat up straight, removing herself from her human pillow. She turned her waist and lightly shook the pillow's shoulders. "Dusk?"

A groggy, unconscious grunt was the only reply. Dawn had her doubts that he was even awake, which caused her to push into his shoulders farther.

"Dusk, get up!" she whispered, her voice as low as she could get it while still being heard.

Dusk sprung up, fearing the worst. "What? What is it?"

Dawn set her hand back on the grass. "I know it's late, but...did you still want to go for that walk?"

Through the moonlight and the illumination of the campfire, Dusk stared at his counterpart incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

There was no reply. The girl sadly turned her eyes to the ground.

Dusk released a loud sigh, not caring if he disturbed the others or not. He rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Well, now that I'm awake, I suppose we might as well..."

Once again, Dawn failed to say a word as she got to her feet. She offered Umbreon her own hand to help him off the ground as well.

The two walked off, not saying anything until they were out of the Hoenn Trainer's hearing range.

A third member of the group was forced awake himself. The gentle vibrations in the ground were plenty to awake a creature that's so sensitive to them. He stood on all fours and glanced around the camp. It wasn't until he spotted his Trainers in the distance that he cocked his head to the side in confusion. "_Pika?_"

-**OAM**-

"Just to make sure, this isn't a dream, right?"

Dawn picked at the bandage on her arm with her opposite hand. "No...I'm sorry, Dusk..."

Dusk let out a yawn, keeping his eyes on the wild path below him. The campfire's light was beginning to fade. "Don't worry about it. I will have to ask what you're doing up at three in the morning, though."

"I can't stop my head from spinning..." Dawn let out a loud breath, the strength of which indicated towards distress. "I keep thinking about Berlitz. Keeping her in her Pokéball won't make this problem go away. I need to talk to her so we can get back on track, and maybe even help me answer a few questions. I'm also getting worried about Ionu. It's not that she ignores Wizard, it's just...those two were so close before the whole Aqua thing started, you know? Ever since your mom brought her to Hoenn, she seems to be so independent..."

"_I have one solution for that_," Dusk thought. He knew that the confession would have to come tonight, but not at this moment.

"And, more than anything else..." Dawn's eyes shifted towards Umbreon. "...I'm worried about you."

"Me?" Dusk countered.

"Dusk, you've been framed for killing four people. And that's just the last we've heard. What if this guy's gotten to more? If somebody sees you...they may shoot first, and ask questions later." Dawn rubbed an eye, fearing that a water droplet was in there. "And that's the last thing that needs to happen right now."

"I'll be fine, Dawn. Don't worry about me."

Dawn frowned. "Dusk, you don't know that!" she yelled, flailing her arms to further accentuate her point.

"No, I don't, but saying that usually helps to make you feel better. Can't you stick with the script?" Dusk gave a surrendering shrug while Dawn heaved a moan of frustration.

"...Anyway, it's pointless talking about this. What did you originally want to do this for? Did you need to talk to me?"

"Yeah..." Dusk stretched his arms over his head. "Earlier..." His ligaments returned to the side, allowing him to slip both hands into his pockets. "...you got pretty dang defensive of me. What was that about?"

"Defensive?" Dawn's head lowered as she thought about the definition of the single word. "I wouldn't really say...defensive. We had the guy right in front of us, and I just wanted him to crack."

"Either way," Dusk concluded. "The point remains that you grabbed a dangerous man by the collar without thinking twice."

"...Oh," Dawn said with a hint of dumbness in her voice. "I guess I never thought about that when I did it. I just...acted on instinct, I guess."

Dusk smirked, even though his amount of tiredness showed in it. He pushed a low-hanging branch away from his face. "The way you keep pausing mid-sentence like that reminds me of Latias. Maybe she's leaving a mark."

"Really?" Dawn almost yelled, suddenly getting excited. "What did she say tonight? She wasn't feeling rushed, was she? I really want her to enjoy the ability to talk, and-"

"Whoa, slow down, Jun," Dusk interrupted with a wide grin. "Talk to May for all your Lati-needs. She was hanging out with her for most of the night. Getting back to the other subject, I was just curious why you've been so worried about me, and if it has anything to do with you calling me Dusk again."

"Dusk, I do that..." Dawn cut herself off. She found it appropriate to grab Umbreon's hand before continuing again. "I do that because you're the only thing in my life that isn't changing. I need that. A solid rock to fall back on, you know? And besides, after all the time that we've known each other, I finally feel like I'm able to pay you back for everything you did for me in Sinnoh. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Right now, no, not really. But at three in the morning, not a lot does." Dusk clenched Dawn's hand a little harder. "Thank you, Dawn. That means a bit."

"As for the 'Dusk' thing..." Dawn laughed. Interrupting the walk, she took her usable arm from Dusk's grip and threw it over his shoulder. She gave him a peck on the back of his neck, which instantly startled him. "...What can I say?" she wondered rhetorically, her voice suddenly seductive. "It's cute. And it suits you more, I think. I'm going to stick with it for awhile, if you don't mind."

"Th-that's fine," Dusk confirmed with a gulp.

"Mm, hmhm..." she giggled, her own exhaustion finally becoming apparent. "Good, because you didn't have a choice."

Dusk decided to stop thinking of the lack of movement as awkward and try to think of it as romantic. His expression changed to fit the mood. "Oh? But I'm the captain of this here team. Since when don't I get a say?"

"Because, as of one hour and fourteen minutes ago, you just became the youngest person in the team..." Dawn replied with amusement in her voice.

Dusk raised his eyebrows. "Today's your birth-"

He was shut off by a hand being clamped over his mouth. Dawn moved her face closer to Dusk's ear, letting her change to a whisper. "Shh. We won't talk about that today. We'll only bring it up...tomorrow night. If nothing happens. Okay?"

With a hand blocking his mouth, he couldn't respond easily to that. His thoughts occupied him in the meantime. "_'If nothing happens'?_"

Dawn put on a sly grin, though that seemed to be common tonight. "So, thinking I'm a little out-of-character?"

"Switely," was the muffled answer.

"It's because, once again, I have everyone to turn to. Brendan for laughs, May for comfort, and you for all of the above and everything in between. Along with Latias. Even though my life's spiraling out of control so fast...I've never felt more in-control. I don't need to cry when I have so many things going for me. Having four friends surround me while I try to fall asleep on the grass is only one of them." Dawn paused for a moment. Though sounding confident, her heart was beating at a rapid rate. "That's why I don't want any presents for my birthday. All I want is my friends. With a long story short...I guess this is what I'm like when I don't need a shoulder to cry on every day. Like it?"

Dusk raised a hand to grab Dawn's. He pulled it away from his face, but kept it close by. "It'll take a little getting used to, but it will work."

Dawn rammed into his back with her shoulder, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. "Oh, shut up!" she snapped, slightly embarrassed about the subject.

Before a counterattack could be given, a nearby bush rustled by itself. Not even thinking about what she was doing, Dawn gasped and hid behind Dusk. Dusk, however, did nothing about it. He watched the bush with a calm expression. "Wizard?" he said aloud.

"Huh?" Dawn jerked her head towards her friend, then back at the bush. "Wizard?"

The busted yellow creature hesitantly made his way out. He was covered in a few leaves that he hadn't bothered to brush off of himself. "Pika pi," he stated apathetically.

Dusk left Dawn's side to walk up to his other partner. He squatted down on a knee and rubbed the top of Wizard's head.

"How...did you know that Wizard was following us?" Dawn wondered.

Dusk smiled to himself, as well as Wizard. "A Trainer just knows these things. But, now's as good a time as ever to tell you something, Dawn."

The lone female folded her arms, disliking the breeze that managed to get through all of the brush.

"I can't help you much with Berlitz," Dusk started, hoping the right words would come out themselves. "Can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow, either. But I can help you with your middle problem." He brought a hand to his forehead, forgetting that there wasn't a beret there to lower over his eyes. He hated confessions, so he was thankful that his back was at least turned to her. "I know why Ionu's been...acting the way that she has."

"You do?"

While Dawn was still in a state of surprise, Wizard ran forward. He jumped towards his Co-Trainer's stomach, once again knowing that he'd be caught safely. Dawn wrapped her arms around him, but never lifted her eyes away from Dusk.

"Ionu told Wizard that she just wants a chance to be herself."

"What?" In hopes of receiving a confirmation, Dawn looked down to Wizard. His eyes were conveniently shut, though she was positive that he wasn't sleeping. "When did she say that?"

Dusk got to his feet, slowly spinning around in the process. "Do you remember the look?"

"The look?" she echoed.

Dusk looked down to find a twig. He bent down to grab it, and, as a nervous habit, began peeling the bark off. "It was right before we went into the Petalburg Gym. Wizard and Ionu glanced at each other...He told me that no words needed to be said."

"Oh..." Dawn softly rocked Wizard in her arms. "I wish I'd known...I'm sorry, Wizard."

"Don't be," Dusk responded for him. "But, that's not all of the story to the little soap opera that we have going on here." The Trainer walked forward, throwing the stick back on the ground. Once again, he comfortingly scratched Wizard's head. "It took awhile, but Wizard...has a small crush on Vesera now."

At first, the words didn't quite register with Dawn. "...Really?" she asked quietly after awhile.

"Wizard just likes them easy, I guess," Dusk provoked, hoping for a reaction.

Wizard snorted, wanting to jolt his own Trainer for his wording, but didn't want to hurt Dawn. He silently smothered his anger, and looked up to Dawn pleadingly instead. "Pikachu, ka. Pika pika?"

"Wizard..." Dusk began, slightly worried by the question. "He wants to know if you're disappointed in him."

"What?" the accused Co-Trainer cried. "I-Wizard, how did you figure that? Just because you don't have feelings for Ionu anymore?"

"Pika," he replied sadly.

Dawn sighed. She bent down on her knees and set the Pikachu on the ground gently. She couldn't get on eye-level with him, but still kept a sincere watch on him. "Wizard, I will always love you. I couldn't be disappointed in you if I wanted to be. Just so you know, you're half my Pokémon, too!" she mocked, poking him with a finger. The friendly push put a tiny smile on Wizard's face. "Which is why I don't want anything more than to see you happy. And if Vesera does that, then you go for it! Okay?"

Wizard nodded. While his secondary master was still close by, Wizard leaned forward and gave her a light, furry kiss on the cheek. When he pulled back, he was grinning even wider than before.

"What was that for?" Dawn wondered, mirroring the smile.

"Pika Pikachu."

"He said it was your birthday kiss," Dusk translated, masking a laugh.

"Oh? You heard it was my birthday, huh?" Dawn got back to her feet. She took Wizard into both of her hands and held him high in the air. The mouse noticed that one grip was oddly much worse than the other, but was enjoying the flight too much to inquire about it. "Then you also must have heard that I don't want May, Brendan, or Latias to find out about it. Can I count on you to keep my secret?"

Once more, Wizard nodded happily. "Piiika!"

Dawn lowered him to her shoulder. She held him to it with her right hand, while her left hand landed on Dusk's shoulder. "C'mon, let's get back before we're caught. We'll never hear the end of it from Brendan if he ever found out that we're alone in a forest."

The two turned and began heading back towards the camp. Wizard decided to stay with Dawn for the trip, hopping up onto her healthy shoulder. After a few seconds of quiet walking, Dusk suddenly smirked and decided to add on to Dawn's sentence.

"Again."


	16. A Harsh Lesson

It was an early 08:30. It had been almost half an hour since May's eyes blinked themselves open and she found herself in the comfort of Brendan's sleeping bag. She had quickly noticed Latias, who was still sound asleep on top of her. Softly, she had lifted the dragon's unconscious body up, steered out from underneath it, and laid it back down in the sleeping bag.

Everything was peaceful.

Currently, she was sitting by her lonesome a few feet away from everybody else and the extinguished campfire. It was a joy to her to be able to sit back and look at everyone at their most content. As her eyes switched from an unconscious Brendan to the active sunrise, a sudden sound startled her.

It was coming from somewhere on her own person. She scrambled to unzip her waist bag and found that yet again her Pokénav was buzzing. Like before, it was the same, unrecognizable number; unlike before, it was a direct call instead of a message.

Not wanting the default ringtone to awaken anyone unnecessarily early, she hit a button to receive the call and held the device to her ear. "Hello?" she whispered.

An excited voice responded to her question. "Howdy-ho, neighbor! Get my message last night?"

May froze in place. The voice was familiar. A bit too much so. "R-Roark? How...When..."

"In case you _forgot_," Roark replied, emphasizing the last word, "you're allegedly related to a somewhat popular guy. Not so hard to track your number down."

The usual emotions that occurred after starting a conversation with the Gym Leader were passing through May. Phase two: anger. "You're a stalker, Roark."

"Hey. I keep connections. That's different." There was a short pause. She heard him take a sip of some drink, and sigh happily after it. "So, what's going on in your neck of the woods?"

"We're just...going on." May stopped herself when she realized there were ten other things she'd rather be doing right now than talking to Roark. To hurry the conversation along, she prodded, "Is there something you needed to tell us?"

"Oh, that." Another sip. "The kid's doppleganger. Heard anything about him lately?"

The quiz made the woman think back to the chase yesterday. She frowned, keeping most of her thoughts to herself. It had yielded more or less nothing, which meant there was little point in sharing it with Roark. "No, not really," she eventually said.

"Still living like cultists, huh? The news channels won't shut up about him. They say four girls are missing after he passed through Route 113. It leaves it all up to the imagination, doesn't it?"

May's shoulders, much like her good mood, fell down a ways. It took effort on her part just to keep the phone near her ear. "Why does he keep doing this?..."

"Oh, oh!" Roark exclaimed, "Just remembered! I found this video online of him. It's footage from a security camera, so the quality isn't great. But man, it's awesome. He just puts his hands right around this guy's neck and-"

"Roark?" May interrupted, desperately not wanting him to continue that sentence. "Now is kind of a bad time for detail."

"Eh. Suit yourself. Tell Blue I appreciated getting kicked out of the Gym the other night. Made me feel like one of the team."

"Roark, I-"

"Not to worry!" the other side of the phone cheered, interrupting her this time. "I got your number, remember? I'll be in touch."

The line cut off. May allowed the buzz of a dead phone connection to fill a short area for awhile before she hit a button to stop it. She dropped her head onto her awaiting knees, letting her arms secure the legs in place. "_Need to change my number..._" she thought to herself.

The time she had to herself wasn't very much. Footsteps could be heard speeding along from the west. Before she could even focus on the nearing human, his somewhat effeminate, though male voice howled out a single name. "SILVER!"

May winced at the scream, but to the rest, it was like an alarm clock. Not a person or Pokémon remained asleep. They started rising up, but to Gold, they weren't doing it fast enough.

He hovered over each of them for a second, bending down to shake them conscious before quickly moving to the next. "Get up, get up!"

"Gold...?" Brendan muttered, restraining a yawn. "What's up, man? Finished in Fallarbor already?"

"'Sup!" he responded with perk. "Yeah, close enough, bro. But dig it, I heard that Silver's at the end'a 113. He can't be that far ahead! I really need to talk to him, and was hoping I could get you guys and gals to join up with me? Either way, we can't hang here for long! Let's go!"

The oldest, though most excitable person here continued making his rounds, stating only, "Morning, P," when he came across Wizard.

Brendan was the first to jump to his feet. Both Gold and he took off eastbound. It was the direction they had planned on going, though not at that fast of a pace.

"Brendan!" May cried after him, "Your sleeping bag!"

The Hoenn Trainer glanced over his shoulder without even slowing down. "Umbry, grab that for me, yeah?"

His girlfriend wasn't happy with the response. She didn't even get a "hello," yet Gold has already gotten Brendan's undivided attention. She sighed; no point in arguing about it now. "I'm sorry, Umbreon," she spoke to the rising Coordinators as she began sprinting past them. "Oh, and good morning!"

"Yeah. Great morning," Dusk commented, stretching before getting to his feet.

Dawn glanced at her Pokétch to see the time. When her eyes moved away from it, she saw a copy of her own hand offering her help off of the ground. As she accepted it, she smiled. "Good morning, Latias."

Dawn gave her clone a kiss on the cheek, then stepped past her to help Umbreon with the sleeping bag.

The dragon blushed, but turned her back so no one could see it.

"Why does it seem like we're always chasing after somebody these days?" Dusk wondered as he tightened the last set of strings. "Wizard, you must be having your hay day here."

"Pika," the Pikachu half-consciously agreed. Most of his concentration was spent on his headband. While Ionu clamped down on one tassel with her beak, Wizard tugged on the other, fixing some slack and ensuring it would stay on his head.

He smiled and thanked Ionu, quite happy that they could remain civil with each other in spite of the breakup.

"Chic," she winked back at him.

Both Trainers noticed the scene. After the confession last night, they were satisfied for the same reason Wizard was.

With a sleeping bag occupying an entire arm, Dusk scooped Wizard up with his remaining one. Dawn likewise got a hold of her Torchic. She gave Latias a small pat on her shoulder, reminding her it was time to leave. Though they had their races back in Sinnoh, neither of the Trainers were enough to compete with the likes of Brendan, May, and Gold.

Latias giggled, even if it didn't produce any sound. She happily dashed forward at her own pace, well aware that she could transform into a dragon and find Silver in a matter of seconds.

-**OAM**-

"So, I got thinking."

Gold had slowed his running so the Hoenn Trainers could catch up to him. He was far too impatient to wait for the Sinnoh Trainers, so it was only the three older people in the front.

"Where are you guys going, anyway?" Gold finished. He was expecting to have to stop and catch his breath soon, but didn't want to until it was necessary.

Brendan turned his head over his shoulder, catching a short glance of Umbreon. May, who was in between the two boys, stayed focused on her running. "We...don't really know," Brendan answered. "We're just kinda...goin'."

"Aw. Yeah, that's cool. Still, you guys can always come crash at my place."

Both Hoennees turned their heads to the boy. "Your place?" May countered, deciding to enter the conversation.

"Sure!" Gold rubbed his sweating forehead with his long sleeve. "Phew. Probably shouldn't have warn this sweatshirt today. Anyway, yeah. I'm all set up in Mauville. Best yet, the city's huge. We should be able to get heavy D to blend in flawlessly."

May and Brendan looked at each other, both of their faces equal in seriousness. Their eyes set back onto the path.

Words weren't spoken as the trio reached the exit of the forest. Since they had ran, not walked, they were closing in on Route 111 much quicker than they were previously expecting to. The ash covering the grass was becoming more scattered with each passing step.

A few steps after reaching the new route, Gold extended his arm, blocking both Hoenn Trainers from running any farther. He shushed them, then began sneaking up on a black-clothed figure that had come into view.

In spite of his lack of stealth training, Gold successfully crept up on the red-haired young adult. He threw his arms over Silver's neck and snuggled into the back of his coat. "Surprise! Guess who!"

Silver's blood rushed quickly, having been jolted by the surprise hug. After regaining his composure, he turned around. Gold, however, never moved, which caused the Trainers' faces to be within inches of each other. Silver did a fine job repressing the red color that wanted to appear on his face. "What the hell do you want?"

Gold slowly leaned his head forward, eventually bumping into Silver's forehead. "Hey, Silv. What's up?"

Watching the friendly engagement from a fairly safe distance, May froze. Brendan followed suit.

"...Don't know if I'd be doing that to a serial killer," Brendan added quietly.

"If you're attempting to do something, you can stop," Silver replied coldly, not even noticing the other Trainers in the background. "I'm really not that interested at the moment."

Gold batted his eyelashes. "Why? Busy?"

"What's it to you?" Not able to stand being so close to his old friend any longer, Silver brushed Gold's arms away from his neck and started walking off. "Leave me alone."

"C'mon, buddy!" Gold started giving chase. "What-"

"Buddy?" Silver stuck his hands into his pockets and turned around. "Buddies? That's what you think we are?"

"Sure!" Abusing his trademark, Gold grinned stupidly. "So what if you tried to kill me? It's all good! So, what's your sister been up to? Still doing good?"

By this time, the Sinnoh Trainers and Latias had joined up with the other two. Brendan and May promptly stopped them from continuing any farther. Dusk took the given opportunity to hand Brendan's sleeping bag off to him.

"My sister's doing just fine," Silver snorted. He turned around and let out a sigh, trying hard to keep it inaudible. "She...called and told me that she broke her arm awhile back. She just got the cast off last week."

"Oh..." Gold dug his hands into his own pockets. "Sorry to hear that, dude. Hey, at least she's doing bett-"

"Ugh, what am I doing?" Silver wondered out loud. "You're making me all nice just by being here. Stay away from me, you sick, twisted monster." He attempted to get away with nothing but a worthless bit of conscience in his way. Of course, a nineteen-year-old boy quickly got in his way as well.

"Hey, Silver! Nah, man! This is cool! Just like old times, right?" Gold set a hand on Silver's shoulder.

Silver stared at the hand for a moment, then glanced back up at Gold. His eyes could potentially pierce steel, so even Gold got a little nervous under his glare. "No. Not really. In the old times, I'd laugh and buy us both a soda. Right now, I kind of feel like carving into you and ripping your spleen out with my bare hands." He sidestepped Gold and continued on his way.

"A'ight. That's cool." Gold threw his hands behind his head and caught up to his cherry-haired friend. He heard him growl, but completely disregarded it. "So, how did you get to Route 111 so fast? You were heading out of Petalburg last time we hanged out, right?"

"Quit following me..." Silver cursed under his breath.

Gold's eyes were staring at a puffy cloud in the sky. "I mean, take the term 'hanged out' loosely. Probably not a lot of buds grab knives and try to kill each-"

Without warning, Silver turned towards Gold and grabbed both of his arms. He shook him lightly, staring at him with a pleading expression. "What is it that you want from me, man?"

"Uhh..." Gold thought about how to answer him. "I got it! How about a battle?"

Silver blinked, stalling while he considered the offer. "Do I get to kill you after?"

"No. But, c'mon, Silv! It's been years since we've been in the ring together!" Gold snapped his fingers. "Hey, I know! My buds are just over there. Why don't you and I team up on two of them?"

"Why don't we go with the first one?" Silver instantly replied, willing to kill newborn puppies before teaming up with Gold.

"Just as sweet!" Gold whistled, waving the five forgotten friends over. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, harming Silver's hearing. "Get over here!"

As the group of five nervously made their way towards the Trainers, Gold ran forward a decent distance so a Pokémon battle could take place. Silver gave a very hard sigh as he reached for a Pokéball attached to his belt.

"So...What's going on?" Brendan inquired once he got within talking range.

"Me and the big boy are just about ready to throw down!" Gold responded back. The smirk on his face couldn't possibly have been wider as he lifted a regularly-colored Pokéball in front of him. "Ready, Silv?"

Silver didn't respond immediately. His eyes were on the sidelines, where Gold's cheering section had moved to. He quickly took notice that one Dawn was hiding behind the other, looking over the front one's shoulder at him with fear in her eyes. The one that was actually in the front, however, had an unhidden smile on her face. Her eyes occasionally shifted between the two battling Trainers, anxiously awaiting for the match to start.

Opposing Dawn's look, Silver gave a heavy frown as he turned back to Gold. "_...I don't like that girl,_" he decided to himself. "If I need to tear you down, Gold, then let's get started."

"Still your old, modest self." Gold flicked his wrist, sending the Pokéball flying at an awkward velocity. It still popped open to reveal another of the Johto-based Trainer's arsenal.

The bat-like creature bounced on its long tail twice. After gaining some momentum, it did a small back flip through the air, landing once more on its sturdy tail. "Gliscor," it greeted itself goofily as it landed back on its tail.

Silver gave a predicted frown while staring at his opponent. He quietly studied its features, but found nothing that was unlike any other Gliscor. Hiding the faintest of smiles, he set the Pokéball that was in his hand back on his belt. A different one came off.

Gold's gaze narrowed. For the first time in awhile, his mouth was twisted into a disapproving frown. "Switching Pokémon? That ain't cool, man."

"Get over yourself," the boy replied heartlessly. "This is anything but a tournament match. And it's not my fault that you revealed your Pokémon without even thinking." The Pokéball sprung open while still in his hand, allowing a four-foot-tall creature to breathe fresh air.

Gasps were heard in a clockwise order. Silver had sent out a notoriously rare Pokémon: Lucario. Instead of its usual regal blue fur, however, most of what could be seen was severe cuts around its entire body. Its arms, legs, chest, and even its head had scars of various degrees, with no bandages to compensate for them. The tip of the spike that rested on the backside of its right-hand palm was shattered, leaving only a very unthreatening tool to attack with.

"Dude...That thing have a bad incident with a meat grinder, or something?" Gold wondered, talking no louder than necessary to reach Silver's ears. "Where'd you get it, anyway?"

"Stole it from some worthless Trainer," Silver admitted openly. He couldn't find himself caring at all that this didn't amuse the people on the sidelines. "This thing was just about as laughable as the Trainer was. It still is, actually. I've been training it, though, so let's see how this works out."

The Lucario closed its eyes and said nothing.

"That's not called 'training,' Silver, that's called abuse! I-"

"Oh, boo hoo," Silver wept mockingly, placing a hand on his waist. "What are you going to do? Call a hotline on me? This thing was weak. And I made it stronger. Tell me honestly if you think that I care about how I got it there."

"Ugh, whatever, man! Besides that, it's a Steel-type! I'll tear it to shreds with a single Earthquake. Send in something else!" Gold demanded, not meaning it as much of a question.

"Of course you won't." Thinking about his following sentence, a grin was incited on Silver. "Because that would mean that Lucario's still weak. Which means I still need to train it. See where I'm going with this?" Silver pointed mercilessly at Gliscor. "Lucario, go! Extremespeed!"

Gliscor awaited an order, but didn't have a chance to receive one before getting nailed by what seemed like the wind. Lucario was running circles around the bat Pokémon, striking at it with stylish blows that nobody could see due to the Aura-guided dog's blinding speed.

Gold's fist crushed the air that was previously flying through his open hand. He jerked his head away from the battle and growled loudly. "Dangit, Silver! You know I can't attack!"

"That's half the point. Lucario, Stone Edge!" the rival commanded.

Lucario continued the assault seamlessly. He came back into view in front of his Trainer with a jagged rock already in his hand. Pain was ignored as his cuts flared when he chucked the stone towards Gliscor like a spear. Using aura, he was able to find another rock nearby and repeat the process a second time.

Gliscor dug his tail into the earth, allowing him to sway from side to side with more ease. He dodged the first rock, not realizing that Lucario had predicted a miss and aimed the second one accordingly. With his mind collected, Gliscor reached his claw out and crushed the stone into dust inches before it collided with him. "Scor..." it calmly complimented.

"Ugh..." Brendan shook his head. "Time-out!" he called, taking a single step forward.

"Go back to painting your hair," Silver scowled.

"Go back to the rock you crawled out from under." The Hoenn Trainer shifted his gaze over to his frustrated partner. "Gold, buddy, you can't just sit here and take this."

"But if I attack," Gold attempted to retaliate, "he'll just-"

"Here's the thing, bro. One of these days, Silver's going to come across somebody that will kick his can without knowing the consequences," Brendan explained, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice. "It's really not going to matter a whole lot whether you take him down right here or not."

Gold raised his hand up to his face. He released the grip containing his fist, then rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Silver, man...What'd'yu gotta do this for..." he muttered to himself.

His arm suddenly dropped back to the side. Blurry vision did nothing to stop his determination. "You ready, Glise?"

"Gliscor!" he swiftly replied.

Silver showed an insane grin. "You're actually going to attack me?"

"You bet."

"Let's see how long that lasts. Luca-"

"Whoa, wait, stop," Gold interrupted. "'Let's see how long that lasts'? What's that supposed to mean?"

Silver showed his past friend an expression that implied how dense he thought Gold was. The receiving end didn't appreciate it, but said nothing. "It means that the nanosecond that you see Lucario in any sort of pain, you're going to go back to being a wimp and stop hitting him. It's what you've always done, and what you'll continue to always do."

"Let's see if you're right."

"Let's." Silver pointed towards Gliscor again. "Go! Force Palm, and don't screw it up!"

"Gliscor, Aerial Ace!" Gold countered.

Lucario raced towards the middle of the battlefield, charging aura in one hand, while Gliscor flew at him. The hovering Pokémon held his claw out, gaining the favor of the wind behind his attack.

The oxymoronically-typed Pokémon crashed his attack into Lucario's palm. The receiving end skidded backwards a few feet, but stood his ground. With a loud grunt, he rushed towards Gliscor, who was surprised by how little damage had been done. Lucario made a small leap and thrust his fist towards Gliscor. Only a moment before coming into physical contact with the opponent, the aura in Lucario's hand exploded.

Gliscor was pushed far backwards, rolling painfully back to his Trainer. He ended in a heap in front of Gold.

Not caring for the impressed silence that he had created, Lucario turned around and stepped back to his Trainer's side. His head was bowed and his eyes stayed lowered.

"Not bad," Silver complimented, having not felt this much pride in his Pokémon for quite some time.

"Not bad at all," Gold continued. He knelt down to check on his Gliscor's condition. Before he even got a chance to set his hand on the Pokémon, it began to rise by itself.

"Do you understand yet?" the other boy said, overriding something that Dawn had begun to say. He had no interest in pardoning his own rudeness. "Pokémon need to be strong. If they aren't, they're just piles of trash that will do nothing but endanger the life of anyone stupid enough to try to raise it. I got my Lucario strong enough to bowl a Gliscor down. I-"

"But it's how you got him to be strong is where the problem lies," Gold cut in. He shook his head from side to side nervously, then dropped it. "Just...forget it, man. I don't think you'll ever get it. Gliscor, finish this."

"Glie!" he replied. For a second time during the match, Gliscor dug his tail deeper into the earth.

Silver glared at Lucario, who was standing with uncertainty on his face. "Lucario, you idiot! It's using Earthquake! Get into the air!"

The Aura beast growled with a raspy tone in understanding. He hopped as high into the air as he could push himself, also starting to charge an Aura Sphere while on the rise.

Gliscor suddenly ripped his tail out of the ground. Instead of shaking the world, a mound of dirt was clamped into the appendage's claws. He spun around and chucked it towards the elevating opponent.

The Aura Sphere was dispelled, Lucario having had no time to launch it. He held his hand out, which alone shattered the ball of earth into two. He was about to feel pleased with himself when a sudden feeling of shock passed through his body.

Gliscor had followed his attack through, and managed to get on Lucario's blindside. The bat wrapped his claws around Lucario's waist and clamped down on it tightly. The latter Pokémon was in a state of surprise, unable to properly defend himself.

The two began to descend back to earth. Lucario was unwillingly forced to spin while Gliscor held him in his grasp. Only a second before crashing into the ground head-first, Gliscor let go and saved himself from any pain by gliding low to the ground. The other Pokémon, however, had no time to react before smashing painfully into the floor.

"Silver..." Gold didn't bother waiting to see if Lucario could still fight. He walked forward, recalling Gliscor on his way. As he passed the dog, he didn't even look down to make sure it was all right. He didn't stop until he met his friend, who was visibly snarling because of his loss. "Why, man?"

Silver gave the boy in front of him a strong push. "Why what?"

Gold stumbled back, but not even his face exuded anger for the taunt. "Dude, you used to crown me every time...after you finally changed. For years, I could barely lay a hand on you. Just now, right back there, I could read you like an open book. It was kind of pathetic."

"The only thing that was pathetic was Lucario!" Silver yelled, fire burning inside of his eyes. "If that-"

"Don't do that, Silv. You lost that match. Not Lucario. Lucario was just doing his best to get you the win. It was your fault that you told him I was going to use Earthquake-"

"My fault? You dare to blame this on me?"

Gold took another two steps forward, which was needed to reach Silver after the push. He set a hand on the boy's black coat. "...Just get out of my sight, bro. We'll meet up again somewhere else."

Silver stared blankly at Gold for a moment. He finally returned to his apathetic expression, sidestepped the boy, and pressed past him. "You're pathetic. You know that, don't you?" He jerked his head to his side. Dawn, who wasn't prepared to be targeted by Silver's leer, froze in fear. "You. Girl. Stop hanging around with that Key broad. Something is not right about her."

Still trapped in his gaze, Dawn was too terrified to respond. Her friends remained silent. This forced a "Hmph," out of Silver before he returned Lucario to his Pokéball and continued walking down Route 111. He kept his walk swift, not much feeling like being followed at the moment.

Gold turned his head over his shoulder. As he stared at his previous partner disappear, he couldn't help a strong sigh. After feeling emotionally content, he turned to Team Missile. "So. 'Sup?"

"Uh..." Dusk rubbed the back of his head, accidentally tipping the beret down on his face a little. "Good battle. I...guess."

"Pika pika," Wizard added.

The team, spare two, rushed over to talk with Gold. Dawn and Latias were the two that were missing. The former wanted to recover her self-esteem before facing anybody, and the latter was worried about the former. Ionu looked up to her Trainer with the same expression as Latias. "Torchic?"

"So, where you peeps heading?" Gold asked, a hint of tiredness in his tone.

"We're just going to keep on keepin' on to Mauville," answered Brendan. "Wanna come with?"

"Sure." Confirming the suspicion, the oldest boy of the group let out a hefty yawn. "If ya'll don't mind me tagging along, that is."

Dusk turned his body towards the southern direction. He headed that way, throwing his hands behind his head while he did so. "The more the merrier. Can't believe I just said that..."

"You've done worse," Brendan consoled, catching up to him.

Gold was right next to Brendan, who was less than a foot away from the leader and his Pikachu pet. Dawn and Latias took the next position, not putting much thought into May, who rounded up the rear with moderately hidden depression on her face.

The woman stared into the sky. By the sun's position, it was already closing in on noon. "_I'm glad that everybody's making new friends,_" May thought to herself. "_Dusk and Dawn have Latias, Brendan has Gold, and I have..._" She looked behind her shoulder and saw nothing but a small group of Seedot that had traveled into Gold and Silver's battle arena.

May bit the side of her lip so hard, she feared that blood would come out of it.


	17. Sunburn

Somewhere along the line, it became the middle of the afternoon. Since she didn't feel like socializing with her human friends at the time, May had released Cherry from her Pokéball and cuddled, talked to, and played with her instead. Nobody minded when she occasionally stopped to pick up a stick and throw it, causing Cherry to instinctively chase it. Dawn and Latias looked back for a moment to watch sometimes. Dusk was focusing on the path, and Brendan, knowing that there was a feline behind him, did his best to keep conversation with Gold constant.

It was quarter after three when the team finally realized that they had never eaten lunch. Dusk inquired about how they were supposed to eat when they had no food. "Is there a restaurant around here, or something?"

"Yeah, we're both really hungry..." Dawn moaned for both herself and Latias.

"Torchic!" Ionu shouted, frustrated that she always seemed to be forgotten about.

"Uhh...Man, not that I know of," Brendan answered reluctantly.

For once during the afternoon, May's voice talked to somebody that wasn't a foot-tall cat. "Brendan?" she began, quiet and shy from her lack of talking. "I thought you bought a little food to take with us back at the Center?"

"Oh, hey, that's right!" Brendan quickly slid his backpack off. "Ain't nothing special, but we'll work with what we got."

The group, all except May, scurried around the backpack. May was the least anxious for food, so decided it best to let everyone else have their turn first.

In her boredom and silence, May turned to her side and headed forward a little bit. Cherry, interested in her Trainer's actions, followed her casually.

The ground beneath them was starting to become dry. Instead of an entire range, grass was found in sporadic clumps. May understood the reason for that, but hardly paid it any mind. Instead, she kept going until she reached a newborn Lotad who had accidentally flipped itself onto its lily pad.

She squatted down to help the creature get to its feet, and couldn't possibly help a smile as it hopped into the air and shouted its own name in thanks. May watched it scramble away, no doubt searching for its parents. Her eyes caught a hold of a twig that the Lotad had previously covered up with itself. She nervously reached forward and began breaking the thin stick into the smallest pieces that she could create.

"Nyaaaaaaa?"

"...You know? Cherry? There was this one time in Sinnoh, where..." She paused for a moment. She didn't want to cry, but her voice showed that her mind was in a different place other than this conversation. "I couldn't eat anything. I just got too scared, because for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to forgive my friends for a few stupid things that they had done to me.

"But, somehow...they all found out about that. And they instantly offered a bunch of food to me. I never felt more appreciated as a friend. Now it kinda feels like I'm...blending in. Do you know what I mean?"

Cherry strutted forward a few steps. Her fur tickled May as the cat sympathetically rubbed her head on May's leg. "Nyaa..."

"I know I'm important to you, Cherry...Thanks." She took one hand off of the twig and set it on Cherry's head. "And I'm sure I'm important to my friends, too. But, still, I wonder..." Her own head lowered a bit to the ground. She used what remained of the stick to ruffle through the grass. "...Are they even looking at me right now? Aren't they a little worried that I'm not eating?"

Her head changed direction, aiming instead at the sky. She let out a deep sigh. "I don't mean to be a drama queen. I don't want all the attention in the world, either. But, I mean...I'm not a horrible person for noticing that the only person to talk to me in the last four hours is you, am I?"

All that May could hear for another minute or two was the rest of the team, having fun in each other's company. It only made her feel worse, since she didn't want to admit that nobody was making her miserable but herself. Her phone, however, offered temporary relief.

She searched in her fanny pack for her Pokénav. She glanced at the screen before hitting a button, bringing the default ringtone to an end. She lifted the piece of machinery up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Yo, crybaby. What's shaking? Nothing that you'll get in trouble for, I hope."

"Oh. Hey, Roark," May replied sadly, going back to drawing circles in the ground with the small twig.

On the other end of the phone call, Roark blinked. "...Wait. Did you just say, 'Hey, Roark'? You're not going to insult me, grow mad...anything?"

May shrugged, not caring that the other conversationalist couldn't see it. "Not really enough energy for it. I have other things on my mind right now. Did you need something?"

"Ah. You guys are still herding those drama llamas, huh? Ah, whatever. Not really my thing. Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you something funny. You didn't _forget_ about what I told you earlier, did you?"

No one but Roark knew just the right buttons to push to change her from any mood to an angry one. She was getting tired of the amnesia cracks very quickly, but for the second time, ignored it. "What about it?"

The Gym Leader paused to take a drink of something. May assumed it to be an alcoholic beverage, which was the last thing someone like Roark needed, but she couldn't do anything about it. "Just found out that one of those four brats escaped."

"Alive?" May instantly replied, perked up with interest. Good news involving Umbreon's imposter was hard to come by, which made her doubtful.

"No, she was undead. What do you think?" Roark sighed, though he secretly enjoyed stupid questions like that. "Somehow, she was blubbering even more than you do, so last I knew, she hadn't said much about the experience."

The Hoenn Trainer smiled to herself just a little. It was good to hear something positive for once. To make sure he didn't ruin it, May changed the subject. "Is that all you do? Sit around and watch the news?"

Roark rushed another sip down his throat. "Hey. Respect. I happen to run a specialty shop. I need specialty customers. Like these fine folks coming in now."

"Customers?" May echoed. "You're back in Littleroot?"

"Yep. After _so gracefully_ being forgotten about at the Gym, I decided to simply stay out of everyone's way until you, inevitably, need me again. Anyway, I got to bounce. See-" No one but himself cut him off. No word was spoken for a few seconds. "Hey...May?"

"Yeah?"

Roark circled his finger on the store's counter. The only thing that helped him to say this was that May couldn't see him. "...Call me if you ever want a conversation. 'Kay?"

May blinked. Shock flushed out all other emotion. "...R-Roark..."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get all mushy on me. Listen, it just gets a little boring around this deadbeat of a town, and having someone to pick on would be nice. Anyway, I really do got to get going. I'm sure you'll get to see my shining face soon enough." Before giving May a chance to respond, Roark quickly yanked his Pokénav away from his ear and dropped the call. A long sigh followed.

Conversely, May's arm was moving like a robot that needed oil. It was another twenty seconds before she finally hit the 'end call' button. The Skitty next to her voiced her worry, but was completely ignored. "Did...Did Roark...just ask to...be my friend? No...I mean...Roark..."

"Hey, May."

"Ah!" Even though she recognized the voice, the surprise still made May drop her Pokénav to the ground. Recovering, she picked it back up and brushed off a few strands of grass that were on it. "Um, hi, Umbreon. Is everybody ready to continue?"

"Nah, not yet. Dawn's still back there whining that her legs are tired." Dusk took a seat on the ground next to her, hoping she wouldn't mind. Wizard hopped off so he could hold a conversation with Cherry. "Brendan's got a bit of food on reserve for you. It should've been more, but Latias seemed to be exceptionally hungry. Needless to say, despite Latias's modesty, Dawn insisted that she needed to eat."

A smile appeared on May's face. She silently prayed that it wasn't obvious that the smile was forced. "Dawn's quite protective of Latias. It's fine."

"What I'm more worried about is why I needed to tell you all that."

May looked towards the boy curiously. She found him staring at a cloud. Odd as it was, his night-colored hair was fully revealed to the world. Instead of questioning it, she continued turning her head back and found one playful Dawn trying to equip the beret onto the other Dawn, who was attempting to resist. May figured it was safe to assume that Latias was the mischievous one, and turned back around to her patch of grass. "What do you mean?" she finally asked timidly.

"Your voice is the only one that I haven't heard at all in the past few hours. Following Team Missile's track record, that's never much of a good sign." His eyes fell down just in time to watch Wizard roll over in the grass. An intrigued Skitty mimicked the action. "Talk to me."

"What makes you think there's something to talk about?" May wondered, sounding more innocent than she was.

Dusk was annoyed, though not surprised by May's unwillingness to confess. "Call it an educated guess."

"Umbreon..." May finally rested her bottom on the grass. She brought her knees up to her chest before wanting to continue. "Have you ever felt invisible?"

The boy turned his head to his friend. Out of the corner of her eye, May could tell how unique an experience it was to talk to Umbreon without his hat on. "Do you feel invisible?"

"Of course not. I-"

Dusk closed his eyes. "You've always been a terrible liar, May."

"I never wanted to spend much time practicing it..." May stirred. "Umbreon, you know how hard this is for me to talk about. You know how much I hate to bother others with my problems."

"And you know how much I don't care." Dusk laid back on the grass, since he wasn't doing much else. He had to close his eyes to stop the sun from penetrating into them so harshly. "I lost count how many times I've told you that you aren't bothering anybody."

Another tiny smile was on May's face. She was glad that it wasn't forced this time. "I guess it slipped my mind how good of a friend you are," she stated quietly, a part of her not wanting him to hear it. "Just this morning, I realized that...everybody's getting new friends but me. You and Dawn have Latias, and Brendan has Gold. I had to release Cherry, just to remind myself that I'm still going places in my life, too..." She blinked twice. "_Then again, maybe I can add Roark to that list._"

"Hold on, here." Though he'd only been down for a few moments, Dusk sprung back up. "Now you're kinda making stuff up. Latias and I fit under the category of strong acquaintances, hardly BFFs. Given last night, I'd say that Latias is closer to you than she is me."

"You said it, Umbreon. Last night." A hand rose up to rub Cherry's face as the cat drew near. A few feet away, Wizard blinked, surprised that he had lost the attention of the cat so suddenly. "Ever since you two woke up this morning, Latias has barely even looked at me."

Dusk took some time to think. A gentle breeze, warmed by the nearby volcano, soothed his body in the meantime. "...I have a solution."

May's gaze was swiftly set on the calm Umbreon. She admired how casual he managed to stay during similar conversations, but decided on saying nothing about it at the moment. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you and I become friends?"

The woman's eyelids closed twice rapidly. Knowing that she didn't need to voice her confusion, her mouth didn't open for any reason.

"Look at it like this," Dusk began explaining after realizing that what he'd said hadn't made much sense. "I know we're friends. Good ones. But, admit it, we aren't Brendan-and-Gold close, and definitely not Dawn-and-Latias close. So, how about we make them all jealous?"

"Umbreon..." After staring at the younger Trainer for a moment, she closed her eyes as she nodded her head. She opened the former back up, revealing an angelically happy emotion inside them. "I'd like that. A lot."

"Glad to hear." Dusk turned his head to look in the southern direction. "You could really be my best buddy if you tell me what I got myself into."

This was exciting for her. Getting to know Umbreon better was something she would want to do anytime. To encourage conversation, she gladly responded, "What do you mean?"

"I've noticed that the ground is really dry around these parts. We haven't come across many ponds or rivers. Or trees, which gets things a little warm after awhile. And the more we walk, the worse it gets. I've been curious of where the climax is."

The female Hoenn Trainer couldn't stop her body from becoming startled once more. "Wow...Umbreon. I never knew you were so observational."

Dusk's head dropped. It wasn't until May spotted the wide smile on his face that she stopped worrying. "May, can you...keep a secret?"

"Of course. What is it?"

Two hands were set on the grass behind Umbreon. He leaned on them and returned to watching the sky. "A few years back, I was death-bent on becoming a...Pokémon Ranger..."

May started cracking up, though she felt terrible for it. "There's nothing wrong with that, Umbreon!"

"Easy for you to say, Miss Giggles," Dusk accused. Despite it only causing him more embarrassment, the laughter that May erupted into was worth it for him. "Anyway, I spent a good deal of the time holed up in my room, reading books about nature and all that. After realizing how intense being a Ranger was, that dream kinda faded away, but I still remember mostly everything from those books."

"I think that's fascinating, Umbreon. But to answer your question, we're actually just north of a desert. The sandstorms are known to be brutal there, but if we can all stay in a straight line, we should be able to get through it in a couple hours. Though, I wonder..." She brought a finger up to her chin and tapped it in thought. "Do I even need to tell you all that? Mr. Pokémon Ranger?"

"Don't even!" Dusk yelled, lunging for her.

May was more prepared for the attack than Umbreon had thought she was. Instead of trying to stand up to the tackle, May let the inertia keep going, causing the two to roll on the ground multiple times. The female still ended up on the bottom of the pile, but her unstoppable laughter revealed that she didn't mind. Dusk was on top, pinning her arms to the ground, while his knees were just on the outside of May's legs. He didn't expect the rough playing to amuse May so much, but was glad to see that she was having fun again, anyway.

Wizard and Cherry looked at each other, both equally confused. The Pikachu set a hand behind his head and forced a chuckle. "Pika, chu."

It was impossible to hide the jubilant bellowing from the remaining part of the group. They all silenced their own conversations and turned their heads to look at the other two.

"Dibs on the winner!" Gold exclaimed, raising his sandwich that consisted of two crackers and a piece of lettuce into the air.

Gold was sitting down, savoring as much food as he could, despite Brendan's multiple warnings of saving some for later. The girls were on the ground, finding it difficult to socialize with anybody but themselves at the moment. Dawn was spinning Dusk's beret around on a finger and using her numb hand to massage Ionu's head. Brendan was the only one standing up; his mission was to collect all the food back into his backpack before Gold got to all of it.

Brendan was facing forward, so his head was turned while observing his girlfriend getting tickled to tears by Dusk. His expression mirrored his thoughts - a weak smile, attempting to disguise jealousy. "Wonder what that's about."

"Hey, B. Can I get a word with you?" asked the remaining nearby male before throwing his last cracker into his mouth. He clapped his hands free of salt and waited for the response.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Brendan stepped off to the side, reaching his legs over the small plastic containers that littered the ground.

"Oli-yup!" Gold rolled backwards from his sitting position and instantly bounced to his feet. By the time he was up, he was greeted by a surprised Dawn and an amazed Latias.

The latter energetically clapped her hands.

"Torchic!" Ionu chirped.

"Thank you!" Gold shouted as he posed for the women. After Latias's applause died down, Gold followed after Brendan, who had stopped just in time to also observe the event.

He seemed completely unfazed by his friend's athletic abilities. His eyes actually hinted at anger as the boy drew near. That was only due to Dusk getting so close to May, though. "What's up?"

Gold threw his arm around Brendan's neck. He turned to his side, giving Dawn and Latias his back. "Just a quick question."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"...Mm." Gold puckered his lips and thought about how to present his question. "You haven't seen Alexia around, have you?"

Brendan furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Alexia? Who cares about her?"

"It's, just...We haven't seen her in awhile," Gold sighed. "And that kinda worries me. When it was just I and you going from Lavaridge to Petalburg, we bumped into her what seemed like every day. Now it's just...dead silence."

Brendan focused on the grass at his feet. His eyes no longer showed anger, but contemplation, even though drowning out the sound of May and Dusk laughing was still necessary. "...When you're right, you're right."

"Or left, you know? Look, either way, I...I...am hearing footsteps." Gold turned his head over his shoulder. He almost jumped into Brendan's arms when he saw a familiar, rough-looking figure staring back at him.

Lucario took two final steps after realizing that he had been noticed. His eyes pierced through Gold's, forcing the two to watch each other like predator and prey.

"Dude," Gold whispered. "That's Silv's. Check out the injuries."

Brendan turned his head around to the rest of the group. Dawn and Latias were the first to notice it, and after sensing the awkward silence given off by those two, Dusk looked to see what the problem was. After he instantly quieted, a curious May followed his eyes and also locked onto the creature who completely ignored them all.

The physically-pained dog jerked his head back without taking his eyes away from Gold. After giving the silent signal to follow, Lucario turned around and headed for a distant figure.

Everybody shifted their visual towards Lucario's destination. All of them gasped when they noticed cherry-colored hair located above a long, black coat. The human had his back turned to the scene.

"...Dude," Gold repeated. He turned to face the entire group. "Chill, 'v'rybody. I'll be right back." He gave a quick pat to Brendan's shoulder before taking off after the steadily-walking mutt.

Everyone else looked at each other, then returned to Gold's disappearing figure.

Gold observed the ground he was stepping onto. Green was becoming a rarer sight with every step-the bountiful grass was quickly being replaced by sand. "Trippy weather conditions this place's got, huh?"

Lucario grunted blandly in reply. The boy wasn't positive if the growl was in agreement of the statement, or a request to shut up. He decided to drop conversation, just in case.

It took only a minute to catch up to the beckoner. By now, all Gold was stepping on was grainy sand. A decent wind would send the cinders blowing into the air, but the caution didn't stop his excitement at all.

"What's up, bro?" Gold shouted in Silver's ear, lightly punching his heavily-padded arm. "What're you doing here? Oh, wait, I know! Couldn't wait for a rematch, right? As long as you play cool this time, I'm all for-"

"Shut up."

"...So what's up, bro?" the boy said again, staying calmer than last time.

Silver closed his eyes. He growled, even slightly quivered in pure frustration. "I..."

"Silv, I don't care what you think of me. I'm still your friend. Tell me anything. Decent weather, eh?"

The malevolent Trainer's snarl grew in size. "I have no idea what demon possessed me to ask you for help, but it won't leave."

Gold managed to pick the most important part of the sentence out. "Help? What'cha need help with?"

"I..." For the first time in recorded history, Silver sighed. He turned his head up, stopping when his eyes met a distant palace. Shrouded in desert winds, the tall building was difficult to see. "...Look. I found it."

"Found what?" Gold questioned.

Silver's head shifted to the opposite side that Gold was on, where he found his Lucario. The Pokémon was staring at the same building and showing no signs that he cared about his Trainer watching him. "It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I found Team Magma's base."

"What? Dude, are you serious?" Gold gaped. "Where is it?"

Silver nudged his head forward. "Huge building. You really can't miss it."

"Sweetness. Can I ask...one question, though?" He continued before giving Silver a chance to answer. "Why did you ask for help?"

Once again, Silver closed his eyes. He kept his head in a direction that would block his face from Gold's view.

Gold's expression was solid as he set a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I knew you were still you, Silv. Just had to dig a little bit." He took his hand away, and used it to point a thumb back to his clan. "I'ma go wrap up my friends, and we'll be back in a flash, okay? No doubt in my mind that they'll jump at the chance to rip some fools apart." He took off quickly, unwilling to keep Silver waiting for long.

Silver turned his head over his shoulder, letting one eye watch Gold as he ran away from him. He put on an almost-invisible, yet genuine smile before returning to his neutral expression and watching Magma's base from afar.

-**OAM**-

"Dudes! Magma! The building in the sand! Vroosh!"

Latias's blank stare was shared by everybody.

Team Missile had regrouped since Gold had left. Dusk got off of May, allowing both to travel back to Dawn and Latias, who were still on the ground. May recalled Cherry, and Dusk was in the process of putting his hat back on when they saw Gold coming back into view.

"Everything all right, G?" Brendan wondered, stashing the last empty plastic container into his backpack.

"Okay, wait, wait, let me try that again." Gold paused to take a large breath and calm himself. "Bren, remember Team Magma? We got swarmed by them in Lavaridge."

"Sure do. What about them?"

Dawn was the only other one to pay sharp attention to the name. "What? Team Magma? Isn't that where my Absol...?"

"Probably!" Gold guessed, clueless of what she was even talking about. "Anyway, Silver said that he found their hideout, so I was kinda hoping we could rush in there and crack some skulls, you know?"

No one particularly thought of that being a problem. They casually glanced around at one another, making sure there was no objections. The rest were caught off guard when they saw one of them did have a problem; Dusk's expression was a cross one. After a moment of thinking about the word, he gave a direct, "No."

May furrowed her eyebrows. Following today's theme, though, nobody paid much attention to her. "_Umbreon..._"

The hair above Gold's eyes also tilted at Umbreon. Everybody noticed them, however. "Whoa, what? The reason I brought it up is because I kinda figured that's what ya'll did. You know, fight the bad guys, and stuff?"

Dusk walked forward and didn't stop until he passed Gold. He folded his arms and kept his back to the boy, and his team. Wizard had quietly followed him halfway, but stopped there. "That's not what we do. We aren't superheroes. We fight who we do because they crossed us in ways that we don't appreciate."

"Uh, yeah," Brendan swiftly cut in, nearly causing Dusk's sentence to end early. "I didn't exactly appreciate what they did to me in Lavaridge. Besides that, speak for yourself. 'We' never signed any papers that told us who we're allowed to fight."

"Fine," he corrected, "Then _I'm_ not a superhero."

"Umbreon, this isn't like you," May noted worriedly. "Sure, Roark and Galactic messed with us a little...But, you're really going to tell me that if Galactic never stole your Pokémon, you would have just waved to them as you passed by their bases?"

"Brendan, May...Stop."

All eyes, spare Dusk's, shot to Dawn. "You're telling me that you _agree_ with him?" Brendan shouted.

The girl sluggishly rose to her feet. She scraped her bangs to the side, though they fell right back into place. "Do I agree with him?" Her eyes shifted as far to the right as they could. Without turning her head, she could barely make out Dusk. "No, not really, but..." Her surprisingly soft gaze returned to the Hoenn Trainers. "I'm his friend. I need to stay in his corner."

May and Brendan looked at each other, neither knowing how to possibly respond to that. Gold was looking at Brendan for support, even though it was unreturned. Latias was the only one that was staring at Dawn with absolute admiration. Nobody could tell what was going through Dusk's mind.

"Why don't you two, Gold, and Silver take them down? I'll stay with Dusk, and Latias can decide either way." She finally turned her body so she could comfortably look at the team leader. "Does that sound okay? Dusk?"

There was a silence. Long enough to be suspicious, but not asked about.

"Whatever."

"...Ah, man. That sucks." Gold rubbed the back of his head, causing a few sun-induced beads of sweat to become entangled in his hand. "But, if 'yer sure. Anyway, we better get going. Think about it on the way there, 'kay, D?"

Gold was the first to get started moving. After giving Dawn a received sideways glance, Brendan reluctantly followed after him.

May set a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "You're a good friend," she said, though it was missing the chipper qualities that May usually slipped into her words.

The young girl swallowed hard. Her intentions were to stand by Dusk, not to get the Hoenn Trainers to doubt her trust. She silently offered her wrapped arm to Latias, who happily used it to propel herself to her feet. She was still proud of what Dawn had done, but accepted that she didn't have a way to voice it.

After realizing that the rest of the team was moving, Dusk made sure to stay in the first position. He didn't want anybody to see his slightly-winded face.

Unfortunately for him, one of his best friends raced forward and hopped onto his shoulder. He studied Dusk's face with a tinge of curiosity. "Pika pi?"

"That's one reason she's your Co-Trainer," he whispered in reply as quietly as he could, knowing that the mouse's strong hearing would still pick it up. He gave half a smile, but kept that for himself. He covered it up with another hushed comment. "You could learn something from her, you know."

In response, Wizard folded his arms, closed his eyes, and jerked his head away. "Chu," he huffed.

The team pressed forward. All the non-Hoenn residents flinched when an acute wind took the sand that laid on the earth and blew it into the air. Brendan and May, having been familiar with this terrain, held a better immunity to the sandstorm than the others.

Almost as fast as it came, however, the gust stopped and the grain fell right back down. Gold stared at the floor with a frown on his face. "That keeps up, and forget Magma. We ain't even gonna make it through the desert."

Nobody spoke a word in reply, so the group kept moving. Mental strain became harsh as soon as the group realized that the sands stretched for a few miles. Shade was a luxury, which would help nothing in their battle against the ever-heating sun.

"Hey, Dawn?" May started nervously, even though the emotion wasn't necessary, "Even though Ionu's a Fire-type, it might be best if she goes back into her Pokéball."

Dawn looked down, spotting the creature that she held close to her waist. It was looking back up at her with a completely neutral expression. "Yeah, maybe..."

"Ionu? Here..." May reached into her bag and quickly pulled the correct Pokéball out. Instead of zapping the critter, she offered the sphere to Dawn. "Your Trainer should take your Pokéball now."

"May?" Dawn questioned weakly. Even though she was holding a conversation with her, she could tell that her standing up for Dusk was still on the back of May's mind.

Ionu shook her head with just a tinge of fear in her eyes. "Torchic, tor!"

"Ionu, I promise that I'll always remember you," May smiled sweetly, "Just because I won't have your Pokéball doesn't mean anything! Besides, it's only fair that your spectacular Trainer has your Pokéball with her."

Somewhat unsure of herself, Ionu nodded her head.

Dawn widened her lips into a smile when she made a grab for May's hand. She took the ball and lightly tapped her Pokémon with it, sending it inside. She dropped it into her hold all, keeping the smile on her face the whole time.

It was inevitable that the group met up with their reluctant ally after only a couple minutes' worth of walking. Lucario had been recalled into his Pokéball, though Silver hadn't seemed to make a move besides that. "That was long," he said, well aware that everybody was close enough to hear him.

"Sorry, bro," Gold apologized, patting his questionable friend on his shoulder a single time. "Had a bit of a team argument, but we're all good now."

"Oh, I'm glad. That was close." Silver took an early lead in the expedition. "I swear that if you all feel the need to freeze up in the slightest bit of wind, I'm leaving you all behind."

Brendan clamped his fists shut. "With all due respect, Smiley, we weren't the ones to come crying to you. In fact, I do believe that it was you-"

"Watch your tongue," Silver demanded in a tone that could be accepted as threatening.

"Whoa, whoa!" Gold hopped in between the debating Trainers. "Dudes, we're in an alliance here! Shouldn't we be talking strategy and stuff?"

"Here's my strategy." Silver's voice had quieted down to its usual volume. It stung Brendan more than the roaring did. "You people don't get in my way too much." He stopped for a moment. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, he was thinking. "...Except the kid. The one with the beret."

Dusk didn't even bother to remove the apathetic mood that he had donned. "I'm an exception. I feel so special."

"So, what's up with that?" Gold asked, quite curious of the response.

Silver's face lit up with a light smirk. His eyes never broke off of Magma's tower, though. "I've seen the little punk in action," he began, not caring or willing to remove Umbreon's label, "and unlike the rest of you losers, he fights with something other than friendship. I feel it every single time I'm around him...Vengeance." Silver's grin turned sadistic with the use of the single word.

"That punk doesn't fight with vengeance," Dawn yelled in his defense, pointing a finger at Umbreon as if she needed to highlight him. Besides that, she was slightly behind Silver, so he didn't even see her. "He fights with the same thing that the rest of us losers do!"

May scratched her cheek. "Dawn, I don't think you're helping..."

The angered woman adamantly folded her arms. "I don't care. Silver knows nothing about Dusk."

"I don't, do I?" Silver wondered, somehow amused by Dawn's claim. "While you, my fashion-challenged friend, were off arming that Latias with friendship speeches and hugs, this kid and I fought against a couple Aqua peons. He wanted his stupid rat back...and he really didn't give a damn how he got it."

Dawn shrunk back. She had tried as hard as she could to forget about how abusive Umbreon had gotten back then, so it was her own fault that an event like that slipped her mind.

Silver barely turned his head to the right. The corner of his eye caught the target of the subject, who happened to be walking on Silver's right-hand side. "What's your name supposed to be? Dusk? You're awfully quiet, Dusk. Does that mean I'm correct?"

Even though everybody else's was on him, Umbreon's eyes stayed forward. He felt no need to turn to his friends for advice. "Deduce me how you'd like, Silver. Just don't hype yourself up for me."

The gradually-uprising happiness in Silver sank faster than a rock in a whirlpool. "...I see," he muttered, disappointed. "I had hopes for you, too."

"Hopes? That I'd be like you?" Dusk cracked his finger bones through his gloves. "Wanted by the law, murderous, and without friends?"

Silver's attention returned to the path he was walking on. His head slowly turned up, not stopping until his gaze rested on the nearing Magma building. "Sounds to me like you're describing yourself fairly well."

Dusk's mouth twisted into a snarl. Dawn, who was followed by Latias, was the only one smart enough to fall back a step or two. "I am **not** wanted by the law! It's my freaking imposter!"

"And how many people not only know that, but are willing to accept it?" Silver shot back easily enough. "The fact remains that, whether it's you or not, you're higher on the list than what you proclaim me to be."

Wizard took silent notice that his Trainer's face was completely red. The heat had nothing to do with it. "Whatever! Please, describe how you find me 'murderous.'"

A weak wind howled across the desert. The gust wasn't strong enough to lift the sand any higher than the group's lower legs, however. The hotheaded Dusk didn't even notice it at all.

In spite of the conditions, Silver was as excited as a Slakoth. His calm words did nothing but irritate Dusk all the more. "Consider for a moment, if you will, what I already said. For whatever reason, you wanted that worthless rodent back. If those grunts started flying away, and you had a gun in your hands, don't even try to lie and say that you wouldn't have picked them off without a second thought.

"Upon thinking about it, I will deduce you however I want," Silver continued. "I'm still convinced that, deep down, you're just as heartless and cold as I am. I can't find myself caring any less if you'll admit it or not. Still, I think answers will be found when we reach Magma's base. I'm sure things will swing into my favor then."

"_As much as I don't want to say this..._" Dawn stared at the ground as she walked. Latias looked at her worriedly, but it wasn't received. "_Silver's...probably right. He would have done anything to get Wizard back...Even something he'd regret later._"

"His unrivaled powers of annoying are second only to Roark's..." Brendan mumbled to himself.

"_Roark's not annoying, he just has an odd sense of humor..._" May thought to herself, having heard Brendan's statement. After realizing what she had just said, she pounded a fist into her own forehead. "_Did I just defend Roark?_"

Rationality took over Dusk, allowing him to emotionally cool off. The boy said nothing, as did Silver.

The awkwardness wasn't helped by any of the remaining six members of the group.

Light conversation was made over the course of the next hour, all of it excluding Dusk and Silver. Gold remained the general topic-starter, but nothing of much interest was said.

Half-way through telling a joke, Silver coldly interrupted Gold. "Look sharp, friends."

The group, completely exhausted from their journey in the fiery temperatures, looked up. Mere steps away was the back of the old, worn building they had been targeting. It looked to be no more than a few stories tall, but Gold quickly took notice that the structure was already giving them something they hadn't had in awhile-shade.

He dove forward, acrobatically rolling and landing on his bottom. His long-sleeved shirt was soaked in sweat, as was his body. "Dude...I _really_ should not have worn this sweatshirt today."

"Speak for yourself..." Dawn warned in a casual tone.

Unlike their male teammates, Dawn and May didn't have to suffer through a desert with pants, and in the case of Gold and Silver, long-sleeved shirts, too. Unfortunately for the women, however, this meant that the exposed parts of their bodies were heavily tanned. After getting into the shade, Dusk and Brendan blinked at their respective partners.

The action had gone unnoticed. Dawn was busy wringing her hair as free of sweat as she could, while May was asking Latias how she possibly didn't receive any sort of tan at all. The human-dragon shrugged, obviously unable to answer the question at the moment.

Silver, who had patiently been staring at the back of Magma's building, jerked his head over his shoulder and glowered at anybody he saw. "If we're all done examining our color disfigurations, can we continue now?"

"R-right..." Brendan answered, tempted to ask how Silver knew what they were doing with his back turned.

Wizard was resting in his Trainer's hold. The poor Pikachu was one of the worst off-no protection combined with lower heat tolerance than his human companions to equal a very harsh hour. Though he wasn't quite unconscious, he was stressfully close.

"Aw, man..." Gold stumbled back to his feet. "Sitting down was a bad idea. Don't feel good at all..."

"None of us do," Brendan replied uncomfortably. "Physical health will be crucial to beating Magma. I say that after we beat back some ground, we try to find a kitchen or something and-"

"What? Are you kidding me?" Silver fully turned around. His eyes were in a fatal lock with Brendan's. "We're supposed to stop mid-fight and ask for a cup of tea? No. First, we fight. And win. Then you people can do whatever the hell you want."

Brendan stomped forward. "Look, man, I'm getting sick of your atti-"

"Guys, guys!" In spite of a strong surge of dizziness, Gold managed to jump in between the two for a second time today. "Silv, admit it, we're all beat, and don't act like you're an exception. Brendan brings up a point that if we can find some sort of rations, we shouldn't ignore them and go back for them later."

Sweat was washing Silver's face, even though his intense mindset stopped him from realizing it. He turned back around and crossed his arms. "Weakness is for pathetic losers, just like all of you."

"You little sack of crap." Brendan lunged for Silver, but Gold blocked him with a quick lift of his palm.

"Bren, Silv, I'm begging you guys! Look, look. We still have something resembling an element of surprise. Let's not blow that by beatin' up our own teammates, okay?"

Dusk took the opportunity to look again at the small section of the party that wasn't taking place in the conversation. He tightened his frown, confirming his annoyance with the subject.

The girls heaved quiet, but worried sighs.

"Wouldn't it be best if we split up?" Gold suggested. "Yeah, that could work! Brendan and May can work together, and you can come with me, Silv!"

Showing a surprising amount of interest, Silver turned to look at his partner. "And what of Dusk?"

"Oh..." Gold ran a hand across the back of his soaked head. "Heavy D's actually just going to chill for awhile, so I-"

The red-haired Trainer disregarded anything else Gold was about to say by turning swiftly to his Sinnoh partner. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"You say that a lot," Brendan noted out loud.

Before giving him a chance to retaliate, Gold cut in. "He goes through phases. It used to be, 'Tell me something.'"

A ruthless, "Shut up," was muttered before Silver turned his attention back to Dusk. "You're actually going to chicken out of this? What kind of pathetic excuse for a Trainer are you?"

Dusk took his beret off and wrung it out, catching the idea from Dawn. "One with much less self-esteem, thanks to you."

"You're nothing but dead weight. I have no reason not to kill you right now." Without confirming it with his dysfunctional team, Silver started walking around the right-hand side of the building to get to the entrance.

"Try it," Brendan taunted.

"I wouldn't tempt me if I were you," Silver warned, not being bothered to stop walking.

"Bren, I hate saying this, but you need to do me a favor and...chill out a little, okay?" Gold set a hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping it would cushion the request. "Sometimes you just need to let Silver think he has his way. If you argue over every detail, we're never going to get anywhere."

Brendan growled, but said nothing. He reluctantly took wide steps following in Silver's footprints. He passed by Dusk, who had a wide smirk on his face.

"Yeah, Brendan."

"Oh, shut up," he quickly griped.

Gold, Dawn, Latias, and May all pressed after him.

"May," Dusk called after they slightly passed the remaining boy.

Even though only one was called, all four turned around. "Yes, Umbreon?" May asked.

The boy didn't like asking his question with the others standing right there, but tried to ignore it. He didn't turn around to face any of them, however. "You're...the only one who didn't eat anything earlier. Are you okay?"

All eyes shifted to the oldest female, whose own eyes were on the sand. She took a couple difficult breaths before deciding to answer. "Weak...but okay. I'll be fine, Umbreon, I promise."

The sound of the others' footsteps walking away somehow irritated Dusk. He let out an unsure sigh. "Wizard...will this end well?"

"Chu," the tired mouse replied confidently.

"Didn't really think so." He turned around and firmly cemented his place in last position. He gave a slow chase after all of his friends.

By the time he made it around to the front door of the tower, Dusk walked into something that he was surprised that he wasn't expecting.

"Look, buddy. You and Gold can do whatever you please, and May and I will do the same. If you-"

"Excellent. Then you two can get yourselves killed, and I won't have to put up with you anymore."

"And what makes you think your plan's so perfect?"

Dusk got up to Gold's back and lifted a hand to his shoulder, keeping his other arm cradling his Pikachu. "Two peas in a pod, huh? Shouldn't you stop them?"

The Johto Trainer rubbed his eyes not only in frustration, but to clean out some of the burning sweat that had dropped into them. "Yeah, tell me about it. Think there's a point, though? I don't. I mean, I've already had to do it how many times today, so why would another make a difference?"

Dusk's gaze narrowed on the other two Trainers, who were still arguing. "Once the four of you can get into the building, you're going to split up. Silver will probably leave as soon as we're done with this, so Brendan might not even see him again. If you can get to that point, then you might be fine."

"Hey...That's a good idea, bro!" Gold gave his friend a jab to the shoulder, but his optimism soon changed. "Sure I can't change your mind about this, huh?"

Umbreon quieted, choosing not to respond.

"It's cool, bro. Don't worry about it." After speaking, he tried to quickly place himself between a furious Brendan and the always-calm Silver. "Guys, c'mon!"

May stepped over to Dusk. The boy was rubbing his shoulder, but she tried to disregard that. She quickly forced a smile on her face when she realized that one wasn't there. "Hi, Umbreon..."

"Hey." The words, the tone; Dusk could pretty much guess where this was heading. "What's up?"

May's head instantly turned to the ground, her eyes scanning nothing higher than Umbreon's shoes. "Are you...sure you won't come in? Three teams are better than two, and..."

"I'm sorry, May. Just...not right now," he answered awkwardly, not wanting to give his sweet friend a cold "No."

"Don't apologize!" the woman begged. "But...If you change your mind, don't be afraid to rush in after us, okay? Also, I wanted to give you something. As a loan, I mean." May started searching through her bag.

It was hard for Dusk not to become curious. He was going to stop her, but stopped as soon as he heard the word loan.

His expression became surprise fast when he spotted her pulling a chunk of red-colored technology out of her bag. "It's my Pokénav," she explained needlessly, lightly lifting her arm up so Dusk could grab it. "If you need us, or even if we need you...It'll just be nice to have, okay? We'll still have Brendan's, so we're okay."

"What do you mean, 'if you need me'? Magma-"

May's expression held nothing but shyness, in spite of talking to one of her best friends. "If Brendan or myself get hurt by Team Magma, then you'd have a reason to fight them...Right?"

Dusk's response to the question was a blank look at first. After realizing that May had discovered a loophole in his motto, he smirked, just a bit. "Guess so."

May leaned forward and planted a kiss on Umbreon's cheek. "I'm sure that won't be the case," she falsely promised. Her petit hands were behind her even-more petit body while she walked backwards slowly. "Take care out here, okay?"

Seeing him open, Dawn raced for the boy next. She put her numb arm on his chest and her bandaged arm on his back, resting her head on his shoulder and looking at the device in his hand. "Ooh, toy!"

Dusk laughed, though his heart wasn't in it. "I'll still stick with my Pokétch any day. So Latias is staying with us?"

"I don't think she's decided yet," she answered dully.

Annoying silence struck the Sinnoh Trainers, forcing Dusk to continue with the same subject. "She probably should go with them. She's pretty strong for a six-year-old girl."

"I'd be okay with that..." Dawn whispered, causing Dusk's spine to twitch. She used her close position to kiss Dusk on the same cheek, though May's gesture seemed much less romantic than this one. "Then maybe you could give me a birthday present...?"

"I...I don't think we should worry about _that_ present quite yet," Dusk replied, thankful that he could disguise his sweat with the heat.

Dawn laughed, somehow attracting no attention from the other Trainers. Dusk's shoulder was once more a pillow for Dawn's head. "We can stick with first base, then."

Dusk jumped back, uncomfortable shock on his face. "'Then'?" he shouted with a whisper.

Since the boy had moved so suddenly, Dawn stumbled forward a couple steps, unable to continue leaning on him. All was forgiven when she saw his expression, which contained a horrified look that amused her to no ends. "I'm kidding, Dusk!" she replied in between uncontrolled laughing.

While much less seductive, the rest of the team was finally having a civil conversation of their own.

"Fine. We agree to disagree," Brendan concluded.

"Fair enough," Silver agreed.

May's sigh of relief was second only to Gold's. "Finally!" the male shouted. He turned to the only remaining member of the team, who had been standing by herself since Dawn left her side. "La-ti! You know what you feel like doin', girl?"

Latias seemed to hesitate. She didn't waste much time, however, before turning to her side and dashing up to May. She snuggled into May's collar, requesting a one-sided hug from her friend.

May had no problems wrapping her arms around Dawn's copied body. A small grin rose on her face as she remembered times in Sinnoh when she held the real Dawn in her grasp. Her mind stayed focused on the situation at hand, however. "Latias, do you want to come with me and Brendan?"

Latias nodded her head, causing blue hair to tickle the crook of May's neck.

When looked at by his partner, Brendan gave a reassuring nod. He was excited that he would have a legendary dragon in his corner, but didn't want to hint at his fortune in fear that Silver would make a comment on it. Instead, he kept his mind clear and prepared for the mission ahead.

The offensive team started moving towards the door. Latias shot a worried glance at Dawn, who did nothing but smile back widely and exclaim that she accepted Latias's decision. After she caught back up to her, May put an arm around Latias's back.

The door was surprisingly simple-it was much like the Petalburg Gym's doors, but much more human-sized. A half-rusted doorknob seemed to be the only way in.

Brendan locked a hand around the knob, but didn't move it in any direction. A sigh came out of his mouth instead. "...I'm sorry for blowing up on you, Silver."

Rather than Brendan, the apology made the excluded three look at Silver. The angered adult's eyes had shifted off to the side, but he didn't speak a word.

Another, weaker sigh was pushed out of Brendan's mouth. He twisted the doorknob and pushed it open, creating an annoying screeching sound.

"Remind me to write down 'oil' and slip it into Team Magma's suggestion box," Brendan stated, looking blankly at the door. He finally rushed in, letting all of his teammates follow him.


	18. Lava Grief, Part 1

The first room was unexpectedly cramped. On the right-hand side was a long staircase leading upwards. Next to it was a door, with a similar-looking door on the left wall. There was barely enough room to fit ten people in, meaning that the defenses down here were little. All of it combined to cause Brendan to blink disappointingly.

"You know, I was...going to yell something like, 'Teams, move out!' or something like that, but this is..."

"Depressing?" Silver finished. "Don't forget that our enemies are equal in strength to Team Aqua. You can't expect very much."

"You're right. And I never thought I'd be saying that." Brendan cracked his knuckles. "All right, then. Why don't you two wander up there and see what we're up against. May and I can secure this area down here." Brendan moved into the doorway, allowing his teammates to enter.

"I would argue against that," Silver noted while stepping into the room, "but heading straight into a battle means more fun for me. So far, you're making a better teammate than I was expecting."

"I'm honored. I didn't think I was worthy of such a compliment by you." Brendan closed the door behind May, who had been the last one to enter.

The Johto Trainers headed straight for the staircase. Gold turned around when he set foot on the first step, but Silver didn't stop at all. "So," the former started, "we'll meet up in a bit, a'ight?" Instead of waiting for a response, the boy charged after Silver. "Think you can beat me to the top, eh, Silv?"

"Which door should we try first?" May asked, looking in Brendan's direction.

"Right. It's always right!" The Hoenn Trainer took off for the door in between the staircase and the remaining door.

May started stepping after him, but stopped. She peeked over her shoulder and realized that she wasn't being followed. "Latias? What's wrong?"

The dragon shifted her eyes all around the room, seeming to be more uncomfortable than ever. She rubbed her right arm nervously using the arm that was wrapped in bandages.

"Latias, you're...nervous," May observed. Realizing what her own words meant, she gave a reassuring smile. "You don't have anything to worry about, Latias! We ended up making it out of Petalburg perfectly okay, and this won't be any different!" May gave a light pat on Latias's shoulder, then chased after Brendan.

Brendan's hand was on the door's knob, being leaned on by the patient Trainer. "Don't tell me that a super-powerful dragon is terrified of this place," Brendan whispered once May got close enough.

"She's just a young dragon," May defended, looking quickly at Latias, who was finally starting to walk towards them. "Besides, not everyone loves blowing stuff up..."

"Yeah. I don't get them, either." Brendan twisted the knob and prepared to push it in.

Confusing and even frustrating the male Hoenn Coordinator, the next room was just as empty as the last one was. It was more comfortable to stand in, however, so he decided against complaining about it. An unfitting, petit dinner table sat across most of the room, covered with a long table cloth and unlit candles. On the far left side of the room was run-down kitchen appliances. The opposite side had a large TV with its glass shattered.

"This must have been their secondary kitchen or something..." May observed, stepping into the room so Latias could look around as well.

"If you find any food, I might not recommend eating it," the other warned. At the mention of food, Brendan's stomach let out an inconvenient growl. "Great. All right, nobody say 'food' to me."

May, who was nervously followed by Latias, ran over to the broken television set. Brendan ran to the opposing side to see if he could find anything valuable.

Before either of the groups could observe their respective targets, the door they had used to enter with loudly slammed shut. The three quickly jerked towards it, but only Brendan ran forward to investigate. He tugged on the door's handle multiple times. "...Locked."

"What?" May shouted back.

"Well, well, well..." another voice spoke up.

A Team Magma grunt, dressed in the company's traditional clothing, stepped out of the broken television. Three cabinets on the west side of the room were kicked open from the inside, revealing another grunt in each. The useless oven's door also opened up, allowing another grunt to crawl out. Lastly, two more grunts maneuvered out from underneath the table, having been hidden from sight by the length of the table cloth.

One of them that had come from below the table was wearing a cape. The cloth didn't even reach down to his lower back, but it was his only defining feature from the rest of the group. That, and he was the only one that held a hefty smirk on his face. "What do we have here?"

Rather than the fear that she'd had since entering the building, Latias had a different emotion. She wasted no time transforming into her dragon form.

With eyes nearly as red as her body, Latias let out one of the angriest cries she had ever given. She jetted to the right and tackled a grunt with her body, pushing him into the wall. She followed up with a u-turn so she was facing the rest of the group. The wind she had created with the sharp turn alone was enough to destroy the television set, breaking it into three pieces. Another bloodthirsty cry growled through the dragon's tender voice box.

"Latias...?" May muttered.

"Oh, well, lookie there!" the Magma with the cape pointed out, "We got ourselves a decent Pokémon here! I'm sure the big guy will like this one. Jolteon...rah!" he grunted as he tossed the Pokéball, "Use Thunder Wave!"

"Jolt!" it responded arrogantly.

Before Latias could ram herself into this opponent, the electrically-evolved Eevee shot a weak bolt towards her.

Latias's eyes opened wide, having not been prepared to lose all feeling like that. Her numb body crashed to the ground, directly in front of May. The paralyzed Pokémon couldn't even manage the strength to open her eyes back up.

"Latias!" shouted a worried May. She fell to her knees and lifted the creature's neck up, but got no reaction out of it besides loose sparks and uncontrolled twitching.

"May..." Brendan started anxiously. He was too concerned with their opponents to dare take his eyes off of them. "...We ain't fighting Galactic anymore."

-**OAM**-

"Hey, Silver, wanna hear a joke?"

"No. Not really."

The air-conditioned upstairs complimented Silver's cold personality perfectly. The Johto Trainers had made it up the stairs, but not much farther. The room they had just exited from had three doors and a hallway. It had taken Silver all of the time to convince Gold to head down the hallway.

Like the previous room, the hallway implied that not a soul had stepped through this building in quite some time. The red-colored walls had turned a disturbing brown, some parts of it being chipped off to reveal mildew. A thick film of something that neither of the Trainers wanted to identify covered what few windows were inserted into the place, blocking out some of the desert light.

"Aw, c'mon! You used to love my jokes!"

"I used to love corn bread, too. Tastes change."

Gold blinked. "Yeah, but what's that have to do with jokes?"

Silver growled, keeping the sound to himself. "Never mind..."

Approaching a turn, Silver lifted his arm up to stop Gold from walking. The bitter rival sidled up to the wall and peeked around the corner. "Nothing."

"Hey, it's not that I don't trust you or nothing, but how did you know that this place was Magma's hive, anyway?" Gold wondered, following after the departing Silver.

"I watched one of the losers crawl in here. Besides, the-"

A quiet, but audible clanging noise shut Silver up. He instantly turned around.

"Sounded like it came from one of those rooms back there," Gold noted with a shrug. "I wouldn't worry about it. This place is falling apart, so jumping at every little sound will just get us paranoid."

"I'd say you were right, if I agreed with you at all." Despite his words, Silver flipped back and continued down the hall. "There should only be one more flight of stairs to this place. If we're going to find anything, I'm sure it'll be on the top floor."

As if the period of his sentence was some sort of switch, unseen doors started opening in the hallway ahead of them. Silver grabbed Gold's arm, quietly shouting, "Go back," and ran backwards until they were at the bend in the hallway. He tried hopping off to the side, but his eyes caught sight of the doors in the previous room they were in. Those doors were also opened with two Magma grunts each flooding out of them. When Silver looked back down the hallway, he spotted just as many walking towards them from that direction.

"Damn..." he snarled. "I'm blaming this one on you. 'I wouldn't worry about it,' he said!"

Gold didn't care much about the mock. He was busy fumbling around with his Pokénav, attempting to make a call with it. "C'mon, c'mon..."

After several rings, the other side finally picked up. "Yeah?"

"Bren! We just got ambushed! Watch yourselves down there!"

"Yeah..." Brendan coughed. "That advice would have been great about five minutes back."

"Bren? You all-" A loud buzzing sound hurt Gold's ear. Even though the opposite side had hung up, he still held the phone to his ear. "-right?" With a sigh, Gold dropped his arm and the call.

Silver turned his head to look out the window. Through the mentioned film, his eyes studied the grains of sand below. "Too far of a drop." He returned his attention forward, staying focused on the original direction they had been heading. "If they don't want to make a way for us, we'll just have to do it ourselves."

Gold lifted up a Pokéball. Naturally, a wide smile graced his face. "Rock on!"

-**OAM**-

"So..."

It wasn't particularly a comfortable situation for Dawn. Her gaze went on and off from Dusk every few moments. When she was looking at him, she found him doing his best to give the cradled Wizard a good amount of shade; when she wasn't, she watched as sand blew farther away due to the sporadic gusts of wind. A perfectly good moment of the two being alone together was being wasted because of tangible tension. She wanted to hug him, or help take care of Wizard, but she couldn't yet.

"It's your birthday," Dusk stated, "I'll let you ask the question you want to."

Dawn couldn't block the smile. She placed a few locks of hair behind her ear before speaking. "Standing in the blazing sun in front of a criminal organization's back door on my birthday...Would you believe that's the third time that's happened to me?"

Her boyfriend's back was turned to her. She could still see his body react to him stifling laughs.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, more serious now.

He knew he had to confess. Dawn deserved at least that. "In hindsight, I did lay it on a bit thick. That doesn't mean I don't believe in what I said, either. This Magma team hasn't done anything wrong that I've seen with my own eyes. Right now, I don't know if I can afford to make any more enemies."

It was time for Dawn's eyes to fall away from him again. She still hated this mess he -they- were in. It seemed like the general public was the enemy these days. "Brendan and May didn't like it very much."

"Telling something like that to May is like stepping on a kitten." Dusk paused to sigh. He finally turned around to face his girlfriend, only to find her squatting down, circling her finger through the sand. "But they'll have to get over it."

Dawn silently agreed. A handful of moments passed without any more words, which she was about to take care of. "...Later tonight, I should let Latias take over. Then she could-"

"Dawn."

Dawn turned her head halfway around. She caught what would have been Dusk's face, but his neck was lowered, leaving the beret to cover his expression. "What?"

"You promised that we'd tell everybody that your birthday's today later," he answered back, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"So? We can just do that after."

"No, we can't." He wasn't sure what might be going through Dawn's head right now. It wasn't the best for team morale to start an argument so soon after the last one, but he was growing tired of having to fight Latias for his own girlfriend. That made him continue anyway. "You're always in pain afterwards. Do you really think you'll feel like having everyone crowd around you to congratulate you while you have a splitting, and avoidable headache?"

"Good, maybe it will discourage everybody from doing that, then!" she argued. "I already told you, Dusk, I don't want anything flashy. I don't even care if it gets mentioned at all! It's enough for me that everyone will be together. Besides, what's your problem? Every time I've told you that I want to let Latias take over, you do everything you can think of to discourage me from it." Her own words hit her like lightning. She stood up from her squatting position, still wishing she could meet his gaze. "Don't you like Latias?"

"Dawn, I..." Knowing those words weren't going to work, Umbreon cut himself off and paused. He spent a moment thinking of a new counterpoint. When he got that far, he gave Dawn what she wanted by tilting his head up. He looked at her not so much as a commanding leader, but as a yearning friend. "I like Latias. But she's not you. Actually, I take that back, she is you. That's why I don't like you saying 'let Latias take over.' It gives me the wrong impression."

Dawn's voice became calmer. "So don't take it so literally." The girl bounced over and gave her friend a hug. It was uncomfortable with Wizard trapped in between them, but she didn't let that stop her. Though, Wizard did mutter his disapproval. "The headache that you mentioned doesn't last any longer than fifteen minutes. I really like Latias, but it isn't fair that she doesn't get to talk like I know she wants to. I'm actually capable of helping her with that, and if all I have to give is an hour of my day or whatever, I'll happily do it. I want you to be happy when I do it, too."

"Yeah..." With such strong points, Dusk's mind wasn't quick enough to build a stronger argument. "But can you blame me? That's an hour and fifteen minutes of time that I lose with you per day."

She didn't move away yet. She could have sworn she heard the Pikachu's cheeks sparkling with electricity from in between them, but tried not to pay attention to that. "I don't know if you do, but I remember what you said in Veilstone."

"Veilstone?" Dusk blinked, surprised by the mention of the Sinnoh location.

"It's okay for us to do our own things. And make our own decisions. And...this is mine." Dawn snuggled her head into the crook of Umbreon's neck. It was an action that helped to hide a frown. "Talking about this actually makes me worry that you guys don't accept Latias like I'd been hoping you had..."

"I'm sorry, Dawn." Again, Dusk paused. It was necessary for effect. "You're right. It is your decision. I need to, and will respect that."

"Pika..."

At the muffled, but audible roar, Dawn jumped back. No longer being squished between the two Trainers, Wizard contently calmed back down and spoke a polite, "Chu." The girl, wanting to laugh but couldn't, reached her bandaged arm forward to rub Wizard's head. The conversation wasn't going to end there. "Can I trade your apology for a promise?"

Umbreon was too used to being shocked by Wizard to worry much about what could have happened. He pretty much ignored it. "Promise?" he echoed.

"Promise me that you'll have a lot of fun with Latias whenever she...yeah. Okay?"

Dusk didn't want to answer. It wouldn't be fair to Dawn to deny the request. Umbreon still didn't like the prospect of temporarily losing his best friend, but at least he was temporarily losing her to another friend. "It'll grow on me," he finally answered. "So okay."

Dawn disliked that it wasn't a straight agreement, but she admired Dusk's honesty enough to forget about it. "Thanks. On an unrelated note, I don't think I've ever shown you Starlight..."

-**OAM**-

May had dug through her pack and succeeded in finding a special medicine created for the healing of Paralysis. She dove the needle into Latias's neck and pressed down, helping to squeeze the helpful substance out of the bottle. Brendan had released his Azumarill to help counter some of the attacks that were aimed directly at the female Hoenn Trainer.

It wasn't a moment later that Latias found herself able to move again. The first thing she did was transform back into Dawn. She scurried to her feet, then hugged May's back shortly before large tears seeped from her eyes.

"Latias..." May moaned softly, rubbing the girl's cold hands.

"Latias?" Brendan immediately shouted afterward. "I don't mean to break this up, but we're kinda set to get our butts kicked here. If you could go back to that super cool dragon thing and haul some crap, that would be appreciated."

"Yeah, La-tee-as," the Magma with the cape taunted, "Come haul our crap, would ya?"

"Jolt!" the Magma's Jolteon added.

The Eeveelution's brisk word was enough to make Latias shiver. May didn't notice, as she was too busy glaring at Brendan. "Don't yell at her! She just went through a terrifying experience! I couldn't imagine being fully paralyzed for so long..."

"May, lest I need to remind you, _we are going to die,_" stated Brendan dramatically. "We got grunts on all-" His head turned to the right, where the grunt that Latias had rammed into was still out cold. "...Well, almost all sides. And a locked door behind us. If you have a plan that doesn't involve a five-foot dragon, I'd love to hear about it."

May quieted. She found herself without much to say.

While Azumarill pushed a Mightyena back with a Water Gun, Brendan stared ruthlessly at the odd Magma of the group. "So what's your deal, anyway? You nuts love the heat so much, you have to live in a freakin' desert?"

The Admin navigated a hand through his hair and laughed. "We're the scum of the earth. Let me give you kids a history lesson. Once Team Magma crushed those Aquas, we forced every last one of them to work for us. Well, guess what? All the Aquas turned out to be better Magmas than the Magmas did. All of us got replaced by those stupid idiots."

The statement shocked the woman Coordinator. It even made her pause from rubbing Latias's hands, something she was doing in the unlikely hope she would calm down soon. "Wait, so..." the female quietly began, "You aren't really Magmas?"

The Admin frowned. "Hmph. We're on 'standby.' In other words, they shoved us in the worst part of Hoenn and said, 'Stay there until we might need you.' We do nothing out here except gather useless supplies for the leader, his underlings, and all those worthless Aquas. In fact..." He checked a watch that he held in his pocket. The corner of his eye caught all of the grunts looking impatient, but he ignored them. "They should be picking up a shipment of crap right about now."

"_Great. Reinforcements._" Brendan shook his head. "_For once, I really don't know if things could get any worse._"

"But, here we are." Tabitha, the talkative Magma of the group, dropped the watch back into his pocket and shrugged. "If we can nab a pretty pony like that Latias, we might just find ourselves back on the boss's good side."

"Not in this lifetime!" May grabbed a Pokéball out of her bag and enlarged it. It didn't open, but her partner was relieved to see that she had something in-hand, at least.

"Aw, c'mon. Why you have to be like that?" Tabitha put both hands into his pockets. "The thing is, I really do got a decent crew here. How about this. Just give us Latias, and we'll let you scooch on out of here with nothing but a promise that you'll keep your mouths hush-hush about our little hideout here. See? We ain't so bad!"

The genuine, yet rigged deal was just enough to make all the grunts equip a dirty smirk.

May and Brendan both released a threatening growl.

-**OAM**-

Gold and Silver had done nothing but got pushed back even further into the already-tiny corner that they were in. Silver had a window directly to his left, which he protected at all costs. If the situation turned bad, the two heroes would need an escape route, no matter how bad of one it was.

Silver was fighting against the incoming enemies, while Gold protected the rear. "Dude!" the more energetic boy shouted, "I'm getting owned here! They already took out two of my 'mons!"

"Then quit sucking." Silver pointed at his opponent's Golbat and Purugly. "Electabuzz, Discharge!"

"Lect-aa!" the striped Pokémon yelled. It let loose random bolts of electricity, striking both of its enemies and nearly the Magmas.

While the confusion from Electabuzz's attack was still high, Silver darted forward and latched his arm onto a female grunt's arm. Before she could react, the red-haired Trainer swiftly pulled her back, swung her against the window, and proceeded to kick her through it.

Her screaming came to a sudden end just as a thumping noise was heard.

"Bottom floor," Gold threw in, "Sand, heat stroke, and Cacturne! Wait, she's just unconscious, right?"

"Would you wrap your incapable mind around the fact that we aren't in a good position right now?" Silver scolded. "Electabuzz, ThunderPunch!"

-**OAM**-

Outside the Magma HQ, it wasn't hard for the two sweating and tanned Trainers to hear the sound of a window being shattered, even though they were on the opposite side of the building.

Dawn left the hug that Umbreon held her in. Now free, she reached into her hold all and recalled Starlight back into its Pokéball. She stared at her boyfriend with determination. "Dusk..."

Dusk looked down to see his Pokémon partner. The electric mouse was healed enough to double Dawn's glance. "Yeah. I know. Let's go."


	19. Lava Grief, Part 2

"Hey, May...You know those movies where the daring hero jumps in just in the nick of time and saves the day?"

"I think you asked me that question before, Brendan."

"Doesn't mean we don't need one."

The fight to save Latias wasn't going well. Tabitha's Jolteon had managed to tear May's Pokéball out of her hand before she had gotten a chance to use it. Azumarill had been defeated, leaving Metagross and Blaziken to defend against the remaining six Magmas and all of their Pokémon.

Latias was still cringing behind May. Both Trainers, even though May was reluctant, would occasionally try to prod her into assisting, but the effort never yielded any results.

"Blaziken, Metagross! Attack together!" May cried, trusting they knew what to do.

The Fire-type Pokémon sprinted forward, easily pushing aside a Razor Leaf that something had shot at it. She used her Sky Uppercut move on a grunt's unsuspecting Primeape. The attack brought both Fighting-types into the air, though Blaziken was in a far better position. She charged a Blaze Kick and accurately nailed Primeape, hurling it to the floor.

Without missing a beat, Metagross hovered forward with its front right arm glowing gray. It did something like its own uppercut, sending the already-fainted Primeape into another grunt's Vespiquen. Both tumbled to the ground, but neither got back up.

Blaziken landed back on the floor, showing off a dynamic pose while standing next to Metagross. "Blaaziken!"

The unable Pokémon got beamed back into their Pokéballs. Tabitha gave another light-hearted laugh in the meantime. "Hey, I thought I recognized you two! So you're those Contest people on TV, huh?" Neither May or Brendan responded to him. "Shame there's no cameras for you to show off to here."

With something that looked like a twitch from their leader, both grunts that had lost their Pokémon released a Dugtrio and Flareon in their stead.

Brendan jerked his head to another side and shut his eyes. "This is freakin' hopeless..."

"Don't say that!" May warned. After the scolding, her eyes turned extremely nervous. "You'll scare, um...Latias..."

"Then what do you suggest we do? We got, like, one Pokémon left! We're barely making dents in them! So what's going to pull us out of this one?"

May thought for a moment. She wasn't expecting anything to come to mind, leaving her to be quite surprised when something did. "Wait! I gave Umbreon my Pokénav! Just call them and-"

Though it was faint, a recognizable voice could be heard yelling from beyond the locked door. Female, and determined. "Charmy, Bubblebeam!"

All of the humans, along with Latias, quickly looked at the door. "Wow," Brendan muttered. "Now that's what I call some good service."

The door bulged, and then it bulged some more. The lock eventually snapped, and the door was pushed in by hundreds of one-inch bubbles. The door continued flying into the room, leaving a shocked and in-line Tabitha very little time to dodge it. He dropped himself to the floor, which was enough to avoid taking a hit.

Brendan and May anxiously turned their head towards the doorway, where the sound of Dawn's voice was slowly getting louder. "See, Charmy? I know you haven't had an appearance yet, but look how cool this one was!"

"Pip-wup!" was stated back arrogantly.

It was barely a moment before a smiling Dawn entered the silenced room with a Piplup in her arms. The Magmas snarled at her appearance, but the Hoenn Trainers expressed their relief. Latias had recognized the voice, but was too scared to leave the protection of May.

May finally remembered how important it was to breathe. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before talking. "You have no idea how good your timing is, Dawn."

"Is Umbry still being a stuck-up prick?" Brendan wondered.

Dawn shook her head as she walked over to the other two. "We knew that you split up with the other two, so he went to go find them. Besides, how much more help do you need than me?" she wondered with an overconfident smirk.

"Don't get cocky, girl," her male teammate warned, turning back to Metagross. "Don't walk into this expecting Aqua, or definitely not Galactic. These guys do **not** want to die."

Dawn hastily scanned the battlefield. "There's too many Ground-types for Sunnite to handle..." she thought to herself aloud. Instead of her reliable lion, she reached into her handbag and pulled out the branded Pokéball. "Guess it's your turn again, Starlight!"

As the Absol appeared on the field, Charmy's neck and flippers sank in depression. It caused Dawn to slightly panic. "N-no, don't worry, Charmy! You get to fight too! I was just getting more reinforcements!"

"Piplup..." he said back weakly. He trudged up to Starlight, who blinked in curiosity at her partner's gloominess.

Tabitha rubbed his eyes. "Is that..." He pointed his finger at Starlight and his head toward one of the grunts. "Hey, Jake, is that KX6?"

"It appears to be, yes," the same grunt responded in an observant voice.

Contrary to a normal reaction, Tabitha laughed again. "I can't believe it! First the Latias, then KX6! How many more rare Pokémon are you people packing over there? Wanna pull a Groudon out for us while you're at it?"

The joke riled all the grunts into laughter.

Brendan and May heard a quiet growl resonate within Dawn's throat. "She has a name, and it's certainly not KX6! Why does everyone hate my Absol?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you about Magma Balls?" Tabitha inquired, folding his arms with a smirk on his face. "They-"

"Yeah, I know what they do. And Starlight's never attacked me!" Dawn returned. "Shoot, I can't even send my own Pokémon out without getting ridicule for it! Charmy, Peck! Starlight, Night Slash!"

Brendan and May looked at each other, the former rubbing his cheek. They knew that they should apologize for only adding to Dawn's problem, but this wasn't a good time for it. "A-all right, Metagross. Hit 'em with another Meteor Mash."

Before May could issue a command, she was startled by two arms becoming unstrapped from her waist. She turned her head just in time to see Latias re-equip herself on Dawn.

"Huh?" Dawn saw how scared Latias appeared to be. "Latias, what's wrong?"

"She got hit by that Jolteon's Thunder Wave," May answered, slightly disappointed that Latias had once more ignored her in favor of Dawn.

"Oh. So let's aim our attacks at the Jolteon. If it gets taken down, then she won't have to worry about getting Paralyzed."

Once again, the Hoenn Trainers glanced at each other. "...Right," Brendan stated. "We were going to do that next."

All the Pokémon and Magmas heard their plan. The enemy Pokémon tried centering around Tabitha's Jolteon, but Blaziken and Metagross teamed up to push away four of them, while Charmy occupied the last one with a Peck.

Coincidentally, it was Tabitha who needed to stand up to the vague power that so-called KX6 held. The female Absol obediently tried to Night Slash Jolteon, but the Electric-type did nothing but dodge. Jolteon found an opening and gave Starlight a quick Thundershock.

"Ha," Tabitha laughed weakly. "So, this is the amazing power of KX6? My Jolteon's barely even trying, and it's beating it. It must be losing its edge being in the care of such a dull Trainer."

Starlight, quickly recovering from the blow, turned to Tabitha and snarled. It made him laugh, though harder this time.

"That's a little better! Yeah, I called your Trainer dull. And naive. And flat."

Dawn's face turned a light shade of red. "_What_ was that?"

The Absol, blinded by anger, leapt for Tabitha himself, but stopped short when electricity surged through its body. She had been so distracted by Tabitha, she failed to notice Jolteon as it launched a much more intense bolt of Thunder into her.

Starlight crashed back to the floor. In spite of an intense struggle to stand up, she couldn't find the strength. She collapsed back to the ground where a few sparks exited from her body.

Dawn nervously recalled Starlight. She was in a slight state of shock, partially because of the mock about her development, but mostly because Starlight had become so angry so quickly. "...So? She has a bit of a temper. I'll work with her on it..."

"Later," Brendan safely interjected. "Right now, we have _got_ to beat these clowns down."

Knowing that there was no longer an offensive heading toward Jolteon, Charmy, Metagross, and Blaziken backed off to their respective Trainers. The Magmas' Pokémon moved into a position to guard their Trainers as well.

Unbeknownst to anybody that wasn't involved in it, Blaziken had managed to snatch May's Pokéball from where Jolteon had set it down. She cautiously held it behind her back and waited for her Trainer to notice it.

May nearly gasped, but quieted when she realized that the surprise factor might be useful. She made a reach for the Pokéball and noiselessly stuffed it into her waist bag. It contained Meditite; she never thought of Meditite as much of a battler, but under such circumstances, any resources they could tap into could be critical.

Before any more action could take place, a panting Magma grunt ran in through the open doorway. "Boss!"

"Uh...Little busy having fun right now," Tabitha moaned. "What do you want?"

The guard pointed back out into the hallway. "Dude, we're getting owned out there!"

The statement brought a wide smile to the Hoenn Trainers and Dawn. Predictably, Tabitha didn't enjoy the announcement as much. "What? Everyone! Get out there! Leave these three to me!"

"Sir!" they shouted in unison.

One by one, each Magma grunt recalled their Pokémon and ran out the door, following after the one who had beckoned them.

"May, Brendan...Go," Dawn said.

"There's a difference between bravery and stupidity, Dawn," Brendan lectured, annoyed. "That Jolteon just ripped into your Absol. You won't-"

"Starlight got tricked," the girl interrupted. She looked at Brendan, returning some of that anger back at him. "She was blinded by rage. I told you that I'd work with her on that. And she has a name. The fact is, I'm not convinced that this Jolteon's so tough. Besides, you're wasting time! Just go back the other's up! Latias is here to protect me, anyway."

"She's right," May noted, tugging at Brendan's arm. "We're wasting time. We need to go help the others." She returned her tired Blaziken and made a break for the door.

Brendan looked at Tabitha. "Dude, can you get my back on this one? Do women always get the last say or what?"

"Pfft," Tabitha chuckled. "Trust me, I hear that."

Shaking his head, Brendan withdrew Metagross and chased after May.

-**OAM**-

"Gold?" May blinked.

Rather than the expected three, only a single boy hero was present. He stood on the opposite side of the room, still stashed into the corner of that hallway. Unlike before, he had a wide smirk on his face. Nearly ten Magma grunts stood between him and the Hoenn Trainers.

"'Sup, guys? Get stuff wrapped up downstairs?"

May slowly lifted her hand up and pointed a finger at a figure standing beside Gold. "What's...that?"

Brendan finally pounded up the last step. "What's wha-Oh..."

"Oh, this?" Gold gave his nearby friend a playful shove. "Ah, see, Magma was kicking my karp all around the place, so I had to bring out my secret weapon! This is T-Tar!"

The green mammoth didn't appreciate being pushed. The Tyranitar leaned directly next to its Trainer's ear and let out a massive roar. It did nothing but make Gold laugh. "We were born for each other, I swear!"

"Duuude..." One of the Magmas that had been downstairs kicked at the floor. "We're supposed to beat that thing?"

"It almost ripped my Mightyena in half..." another grunt moaned, bending on her knees to hug the whining dog.

Gold rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, guys, prob'ly a bad time for this, but you didn't happen to see a kitchen 'nywhere, right? I'm still exhausted from the trip here, man..."

May looked at Brendan for advice, but he gave her nothing in return. Instead, he allowed Gold to see a frown. "Can't say we have. Let's wrap this up and see what we can do."

"Noice!" Gold exclaimed with a 'twang, "All right, Magmas! I've been promised food at the end of this, so you better watch-"

"Gold..." May interrupted with a touch of shyness in her voice, "Where did...Umbreon go? And Silver?"

As if just realizing that they had been tailed, the group of Magmas turned their heads back. "Oh, crap! We got followed!"

Half of them turned around to face the Hoenn Trainers. The remaining half stayed turned toward Gold and contemplated how to bring a Tyranitar down.

"Oh, them two?" Gold wondered in response to May's question. He was amused by constantly ignoring the Magmas' chatter. "They're heading up to the top floor as we speak!" he said, pointing a thumb down the other side of the hallway.

"Not bad," Brendan complimented to no one in particular. "Let's get through this and see if they won't need our help. Here we go again, Metagross!"

-**OAM**-

Tabitha could barely contain a laugh. "You're shaking, girl. Hey, are you sure you really want to do this?"

Nothing had happened back downstairs. Latias, while still too fearful of the enemy Electric-type to step out from behind Dawn, was beginning to recover from her scare. The human girl was biting her lip, wanting to suppress any fear that she had. By the fact that Tabitha had noted it, she knew she wasn't doing a good job of it. "_How does Dusk do this all the time? No-name thugs are one thing, but this guy's got a freaking Jolteon..._"

Charmy couldn't have cared any less about his Type disadvantage. He stood in front of his Trainer with about a week's worth of pride to strut off.

Tabitha rolled his eyes after Dawn didn't reply to his question. "All right, this is taking forever. Are we going to fight, or can you step to the side so I can get through that door and back my men up? You know, I don't even care which at this point."

"_When I had to fight Venus, Dusk was right next to me...And everybody was next to me when we fought Gio-_"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Tabitha cried. "Okay, let's make a deal. I'll let you fight Jolteon with two Pokémon if we can _hurry this along a little_," the Admin bargained, pulling at the collar of his shirt. "Do you have any idea how warm it is down here with this thing on? We got freaking Central Air upstairs. I've never begged an opponent before, but if I need to-"

He stopped talking and smirked when Dawn reached into her handbag and pulled out a second Pokéball.

After the usual flash, a different starter landed next to Charmy. She shook her head, then assessed the situation quickly. She gave Charmy a nod, then turned to Jolteon. "Torchic!"

Charmy crossed his flippers and turned his head aside. "Plup."

Ionu jerked her body towards the Piplup. "Chic?"

"Piplup. Pip pip pip, Piplup."

Ionu pounded the floor with her claw. "Torchic, Tor! Torchic tor Chic Torchic tor!"

Tabitha itched his eyebrow. "So the same girl that managed to tame KX6 can't even coordinate two stupid birds. You know, I'd buy your biography if you ever write one."

Dawn ignored him, instead staring at her two bickering Pokémon. She rubbed Latias's hands to help calm both the dragon and herself. "Charmy, Ionu, c'mon...We need to pull together here. Can't you team up just this once?"

Ionu spun around and faced her Trainer angrily. "Torchic!" she argued indignantly.

"Jolt!" Jolteon interrupted. It built up electricity, then sent a bolt crashing into the floor directly in front of Charmy. "Jolt! Jolt!"

The event was enough to humble Charmy. He coolly shook off his surprise and adamantly faced the Electric-type. "Piplup!"

Ionu shook her head slightly and turned back around.

Dawn went back to biting her lip. "_He's so...honorable__.__ How many cheap shots did he just have right there, and he didn't take any of them? His Pokémon was even the one that got Ionu and Charmy to work together..._" Pumping one hand into a fist, Dawn used the other to point at Jolteon. "Charmy, use Bubblebeam! Focus Energy, Ionu!"

Tabitha lifted his arms in praise. "Groudon has smiled on me at this moment! Jolteon, get rid of the bubbles with a Pin Missile."

Tiny lightning bolts in the shape of spikes began appearing at the tips of Jolteon's fur. With a raspy shout, they all launched forward and crashed into the oncoming Bubblebeam attack. The two moves managed to cancel one another out.

"Charmy, it's open! Use Peck!"

Before Tabitha could react, cute sounds were made from underneath Charmy's feet as he raced forward as fast as his plump body would allow. The penguin gained some momentum then took flight. He landed double Pecks, one of them getting a lucky hit on Jolteon's head, before backing off in fear of a counterattack.

Dawn smirked. "I guess Groudon decided to smile on me there."

The Magma only reacted with a growl of frustration. "Wipe that smug look off your face. Jolteon's just getting started. Use Agility, then Thunderbolt!"

Its legs were somewhat shaky, but Jolteon easily stood up straight. "Jolt!" Within an instant, Jolteon dashed behind Charmy. It set a paw on the creature, startling it into freezing in place, before surging thousands of electrical currents through its body.

"Pluuup...!" Charmy cried in agony.

Seeing an opportunity for a hit, Ionu used her charged energy to throw an Ember attack in Jolteon's direction. The powerful Electric-type caught sight of the fiery attack with the corner of its eye, and without needing direction from its Trainer, stopped its assault on Charmy in order to get away.

Having lost its Agility status, Jolteon was at least visible as it made its way back to Tabitha. It sat on the ground and grinned at the enemy Torchic's frustration.

Charmy nearly collapsed, but managed to stay conscious. "...Pip...lup..."

"Good will, that Piplup's got," Tabitha remarked, setting a hand on his hip.

"I've learned that's not always a good thing, though." Dawn bent down to rub Charmy's head, though she minded Latias's hug. "Charmy, if you're exhausted, you should go back into-"

"Plup!" Charmy arrogantly brought a flipper up and whipped Dawn's hand away from him. Weakly, he got to his feet and stayed there.

With wide eyes, Dawn jumped back, tumbling into Latias who remained sturdy. She shook her hand, hoping to relieve a little of the sting. "Charmy..."

"Stupid, but good will." Tabitha aimed his index finger at Charmy. "All right, Jolteon. Put that thing out of its misery!"

Unsure of what it was actually supposed to do, Jolteon decided for itself that a classic Tackle would finish the job. It popped off the ground and raced forward.

Since she had once again been forgotten, Ionu took time to carefully aim her next Ember. She opened her beak and shot out balls of merciless flame.

The attack smashed into Jolteon, but it wasn't doing any more than slowing it down. It charged through the fireballs and lowered its neck, prepared to crash head-first into the unmoving Piplup.

It was a slow second until Jolteon was to hit Charmy. Without thinking twice, Ionu sprinted in between the two and caused Jolteon to ram into her instead.

Charmy, having been expecting to see the end by now, opened his anxious eyes up to see why the attack had been delayed. He gasped with a quiet "Pip" when he saw Ionu in a pile in front of him.

Jolteon had curiously returned to its master's side, letting Charmy safely muster the energy to run up to his fallen comrade. He pushed her with a flipper, hoping it would somehow revitalize her. "Piplup! Piplup!"

Ionu gave him a pained smile in return. "Chic..."

"Piplup! Pip-" Half way through his sentence, Charmy angled his head up and glared at Jolteon. Out of seemingly nowhere, water formed around the Piplup in a sort of barrier.

Tabitha stumbled a step back. "Wha-What the-"

Charmy hopped into the air, then flew at Jolteon in a zigzagging pattern. Leaving nothing but a path of water behind him, Charmy rushed into Jolteon with a water-boosted tackle at an incredible speed.

Jolteon fell to the floor, and Charmy waddled back to his Trainer and teammate. He bent down to Ionu and finally prodded her enough to stand back on her feet.

"Charmy, was that...Aqua Jet?" Dawn muttered in surprise.

Tabitha rested a knee on the floor. "What? You mean I was just on the bad end of a cliché-ah, forget it." The Magma ruffled a hand through Jolteon's fur. "You were great out there, kid. Take a breather."

"Jolt..." it mumbled as it vanished inside of its Pokéball.

Getting over the startle that Charmy had given her, Dawn turned her eyes to Tabitha. She had seen what he had just done; it had surprised her almost as much as Charmy's new attack. "You're...pretty nice."

Still on one knee, Tabitha blinked. "Uh...okay."

"No, I mean..." Dawn turned her head to the ground. "When I was fighting Aqua in Petalburg that time, and even back against Galactic, everybody treated their Pokémon like slaves. You pet your Pokémon, give it encouragement...I just figured it was in the bad guy code of conduct to be terrible towards Pokémon."

Tabitha shrugged as he got back to his feet. "Thanks. Maybe it helps that we're trapped out here in the middle of nowhere. Bonding with our Pokémon's bound to happen, right?"

"And by the fact that you just thanked me, I'm starting to wonder how bad you guys really are..." Dawn nervously continued, looking up to Tabitha.

"We aren't bad at all," the Admin declared, putting Jolteon's Pokéball away. "The only times that we do 'bad' things are when we need certain resources. I heard about what our affiliates, Aqua, did to Petalburg, and I have no idea why they did it. Barbarically pillaging towns isn't what Team Magma does. I don't know what the leader was thinking there." Tabitha scratched his knuckle. "I'll tell you...Being stashed out in the freakin' desert...Having my title of 'Admin' become basically worthless before my eyes...If I hadn't devoted the past ten years into Team Magma..."

Dawn blinked. "You guys are thinking of mutinying?"

"Of course not!" Tabitha hastily replied. "...Well, I mean, I think I'm the only one who's had the thought cross their mind. Anyway, let's face it, you and I aren't here to talk politics. Let's move on to round two."

"Yeah..." Dawn put on a light smile. "I just hope you don't mind if a third Pokémon fights for me."

Knowing well that the main threat was gone, a blinding light appeared from behind Dawn. It was only a second before a red- and white-colored dragon hovered above the human girl. As was the case before, her eyes had become unhealthily bloodthirsty.

-**OAM**-

"You do know that I'm set to enjoy every single second of this, right?"

Dusk remained wordless.

Silver and Dusk were blasting their way down just about any corridor they could find. If Magmas gave chase, not much was needed in the way of distractions - Silver would just send a Pokémon out to keep them busy while the Trainers continued on. A rejuvenated Wizard had also volunteered to buy them some time, so Dusk had only Silver at his side.

Currently, they were hiking up a staircase. Said staircase happened to lead up to the top floor, where they were expecting the epic final battle to take place.

"What happened to staying out of this?" Silver continued, a highly disturbing grin on his face, "Furthermore, what about what I said? You seemed to be convinced that you're nothing like me, but here we are...It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Just remember, when you're ready to slash your first throat, I always carry an extra knife with me."

"An extra? Just in case you want to try using one with your _injured hand?_" Dusk mocked, keeping a straight face.

The sadistic Trainer's smile dropped. The two simultaneously stepped foot on the last stair.

Ahead of them was a very short hallway. At the end of it were two large, unclear doors. The situation gave Dusk enough time to finish. "I have nothing to prove to you, Silver. We're just two guys dead-set on ending this day alive. You have your methods, and I have mine. Don't lose your focus on them just because you're so interested in proving me wrong."

Silver snorted. "Don't tell me what to do."

Knowing that stealth was hardly important with their teammates making such a ruckus downstairs, the pair of boys kicked in the pair of doors. The doors flew open, one of them even coming off of a hinge. The good guys instantly realized that there were people in the back of the room, but even Silver had to take a moment to admire what the room was.

The room was shaped to look exactly like a chapel. Half a dozen pews laid around the room in an orderly way while the glass-stained window completed the look. There was even a small stage in the far back, convenient enough to hold a minister, or at least special events. This was the first room they had come across that actually appeared to be fairly well kept.

Silver folded his arms and walked into the room reluctantly. "This isn't a criminal organization. It's a cult."

Due to the Trainers' lack of subtlety, the others in the room quickly studied their new guests. There was only three, and they were all placed in the middle of the room. Both Dusk and Silver were quick to recognize one of them. The latter's arms dropped and eyes widened, but Dusk was startled enough to say something about the matter.

"K-Key?"

"Sh-" The tall, female figure hurriedly turned her back to the onlookers. A gray ponytail didn't go far in protecting her identity. She quickly threw a Pokéball at the ground. "Starmie, Flash!"

A multi-finned Pokémon was visible, but only for a moment. The gem in its center released a blinding beam, filling the entire room with an unbearable amount of light.

By the time it died down, neither the Starmie nor its Trainer were to be seen.

Silver wasn't about to let anyone see him without his composure. He casually folded his arms up once again. "I knew there was something off about her."

It even took the girl's own teammates a moment to recover from their blindness. One was clearly some operative for Team Magma, as she had the entire garb on, including a hood. The other also wore the traditional clothing, though no hood revealed him to have a blue bandana on. He was an incredibly buff man, helped even more so by the fact that his partner seemed rather petit.

"You know, there was a doorknob," the man stated loudly.

"Who uses them?" Dusk countered, also trying to regain his composure.

Without a word, the woman pulled the hood further over her eyes. Slowly, she stepped forward. Silver deemed himself too cool to look at her, but Dusk watched her like a hawk.

She soon stood directly next to Umbreon. She made a strange reach for her chest and pulled out a piece of paper from underneath her bra strap. It was folded over once, letting her hand it to Dusk without him seeing what was on it. "Give this to the boy in the cap..." she said in a quiet voice.

With no more explanation, she walked off toward the same barged-in doors.

His first instinct was to read the note. The circumstances were just too weird not to. However, his train of thought was broken along with Silver's when the Magma turned around. He stared at a large, dusty picture in the back, which held a faint image of Groudon. "If you young men were expecting a fight, I'm afraid that I'll be disappointing you. No fighting is allowed at all in this sanctuary."

His words only encouraged Silver to reach for a Pokéball. "You must be new at this. When you're being raided by a bunch of teenagers, there is no safe spot. It's an unwritten rule."

The boss of this building, as the Trainers assumed him to be, didn't regard Silver at all. "Groudon is wonderful, isn't it? Who would want to defile the place of such a sacred being?" His head dropped. A long sigh shortly followed. "If only I could believe those words. Perhaps my job would be easier then." He spun around to face his enemies. Only then did they pay attention to the healthy black beard that the man had on. "My name is Archie. I used to own Team Aqua."

Dusk wasn't sure what to feel about that; Silver, of course, hardly reacted physically at all. "So you used to be the genius who rallied the other slime. Is that supposed to discourage me from crushing you?"

Archie still pretended as though Silver didn't say a word. "I'm the only Aqua here, you know. The rest are at the other base."

"Other base?" Dusk echoed, not having been there for Tabitha's explanation.

"Aqua and Magma were once bitter rivals," Archie taught, looking toward Dusk without any hint of anger or impatience, "Magma defeated us, and we came under their rule. To better organize ourselves, we created two bases. This is one of them, and the other..."

"...Hmph," Silver grunted at the predictable stop.

Archie turned his back again. His right wrist was clasped in his left hand. "...Tell me something. If I told you the location of our other base...Could you encourage your friends to leave?"

"I smell a rat," accused Silver almost instantly.

Aqua's ex-leader said nothing, hoping that the other boy would answer.

Unfortunately, Dusk wasn't sure what to say. He almost felt as if the answer was up to him. The decision was made harder by none of his actual friends being able to encourage him. "...Why would you sell your own team out?" Dusk asked, borrowing some time to answer.

"This...This is not my team," Archie responded truthfully, though slowly. "No one likes what Team Magma's done, shoving us out in this desert where we have yet to go on a single mission. Standby, they say. It might be time for them to learn a lesson. You've gotten this far much more easily than most others would have, not to mention you have quite an admirable reputation. I see no one better to teach them that lesson...than you."

"You're a coward." Silver finally put his Pokéball away. He was ready to grab it again at a second's notice. "You've got your fingers crossed, praying to your amazing Groudon that your blind praise and false promises will convince us to _not_ kill you right now."

"You like the sound of your own voice," Dusk shot back. Silver glared at him, but he tried not to mind it. "I won't speak for this smiling rose next to me, but I can get the others to listen to me. Let's get your part of the bargain first."

"You're buying it?" Silver scowled. "You're right. I was wrong. You're nothing like me. I could never stand being so dense."

"Thank you...Dusk, was it?" Archie said politely. He turned around to face the boy, doing his best to ignore Silver. "We had supplies delivered just a few moments ago. Every single one of them would point you to the same location. Petalburg City."

"What?" Silver muttered, taking a sudden interest in Archie.

"Unfortunately, you'll need to solve the rest of the riddle on your own," the buff man continued, "Rest assured, you'll need to look no further."

Dusk hesitated for a moment. Without a word, he shifted around and bolted for the stairs.

Time passed in complete silence. Archie cracked a smile. "...And what of you?"

Silver grimaced. He had to release most of his team on the way here, and without backup, he would easily be overrun.

The grimace turned stronger. "You all suck. Just remember that if need be, I _will_ be back." Finally, the ruthless Trainer gave a quick chase to Dusk.

-**OAM**-

It was anything but difficult to convince both Magma and hero to stop fighting. Both sides had suffered some brutal blows, so when Dusk announced that they were retreating, the Magmas hardly gave an argument. After being called for, Dawn and a very reluctant Latias were the last two to rush out the door of the building.

"Phew...Whatta day, huh?" Brendan inquired, moving his headband so he could wipe away the sweat on his forehead. Being back out in the intense sun of the desert wasn't helping him feel much stronger, either.

"Forget this," Silver stated, starting to walk off. "You losers will do nothing but slow me down. I'm going to Petalburg."

"Silver, wait."

The boy stopped. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, staring at Dusk. "You don't need to tell me. I already know that it was disappointing."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I might need you." Rather than continuing explaining to Silver, Dusk turned to Dawn. He lifted a hand to his shoulder, as the other was cradling Wizard. "Dawn, both me and Silver saw it...Key works for Team Magma."

"Oh..." Dawn's head dropped to the sand. "Yeah, I know."

"Wh-what?" returned the younger Trainer, startled.

Dawn itched her head. "Tabitha, the guy I was fighting...sorta let that slip. He said that she's one of the higher-ups."

Those words were enough to get Silver walking away again. "I'm supposed to stick around for this?"

This time, however, no one stopped him.

"Wait..." Brendan restrained a chuckle, also taking a quick glance at May. "That _guy_ we were fighting...His name was _Tabitha_?"

Between obtaining no food within Magma's base and the desert heat, Gold was the first to mention the idea of getting to a more comfortable climate. It took several attempts to get Latias to stop snarling at the building, but afterwards, she transformed into a human and the group set off south. After Dusk explained what Archie had mentioned, everyone took turns telling stories of their respective battles. Dusk had also remembered to give May her Pokénav back.

It was twilight by the time Team Missile found a living blade of grass and nighttime before they found a reasonable place to camp. They were on the tail end of Route 111, surrounded by trees on one side and a road on the other. Gold was the first to take a seat.

"Rock on! About time I got to sit down today...Man, I really should not have worn this sweatshirt today."

Umbreon nonchalantly released Moonite from its Pokéball. No one was feeling invited by his introductory growl, but after being commanded to sit in between the team and give off light, the creature quieted down and did what it was told. The Typhlosion snuggled into the grass, turned on the fire around its neck, and actually managed to fall asleep.

"So what's the topic?" Brendan asked, rushing a hand through the grass next to him.

"Ahh...No food!" Gold moaned, throwing his hands behind his head and laying backwards. "If we all can make it 'til tomorrow, there's plenty of chow at my place in Mauville! Doubt it'll take us more than the morning to get there!"

"Offer accepted," Dusk replied readily.

Dawn turned her head around. She was sitting next to Umbreon, but noticed that the spot on the other side of her was oddly vacant. When her gaze shifted, she saw Latias standing and facing toward the desert they had just come from. "Latias? Don't you wanna come sit with me?"

May had been sitting back-to-back with Brendan. Since the male was facing the group, May was turned away. She quickly turned to look when she heard that the team wasn't complete.

At first, the reply was naught. Nobody thought much of it until they heard yet another of the incredibly rare sounds that Latias was capable of making; this one was a congested sob.

Dawn nearly got whiplash as she turned again to face her friend. "Latias? Are you okay?"

The Dawn-shaped dragon bolted off in an instant. She ran to the east, where she was soon greeted by a light forest.

Her closest friend shot up and ran after her without a word to her teammates. Instead of doing nothing, as usual, Dusk turned to his Fire-type Pokémon. "Go with her, Moonite." It took a moment with no response, but Dusk realized that his Pokémon had fallen asleep. He hoped that a swift kick to the side of the neck would wake it up. "Moonite! I said go follow her!"

A groggy Moonite barked before getting on all fours. It chased after Dawn, catching up with her quickly, and giving her a convenient torch.

"Good call sending backup," Brendan praised, now staring at the pitch blackness in front of his face. "We're right next to Mauville. I wouldn't trust a fourteen-year-old girl alone in these forests either."

Umbreon cracked a smile, though no one could see it. "Fifteen."

May gasped while Brendan sounded out a "What?"

"So today's her birthday?" Gold wondered, half asleep by now.

"Yep." Dusk stroked the silent Wizard, who also had fallen asleep, he'd assumed. "She wanted to wait until tonight to tell everyone."

Brendan shifted around in his seat uncomfortably. "Ah, crap. Don't know about either of you two, but I'm far too aware of how women get when we forget their birthdays."

"We get violent," May added, slowly picking apart a blade of grass.

Fifteen minutes passed, though none of the Trainers knew the exact amount of time that had gone by. Gold was out, and Brendan was soon going to lose consciousness as well. While exhausted, the remaining two humans were too worried about their companions to slip into comfortable rest.

"Isn't it something...Umbreon?"

Dusk was startled by the quiet but sweet tone that came from May. A part of the surprise was due to someone speaking up after a quarter of an hour without a word. "What is?"

"...This night," the girl responded after a small pause. "If it weren't for you two, I'm not sure if the rest of us would be alive to see this night."

A reply wasn't coming easily to the Trainer. The result was an unusually long break before he spoke again. "You would have been fine. That couldn't have been the worst spot you've ever been in."

"Maybe..." May sighed. "Maybe not." She gently leaned forward. When Brendan started falling on top of her, she smiled and slipped away, carefully laying her boyfriend's sleeping body on the ground. There wasn't a point in waking him up to inquire about his sleeping bag, she decided. "Anyway...I'm starting to get worried about the other two. Latias is a really happy girl, so I'm not sure why it's taking Dawn so long to cheer her up. I'll make sure everything's okay. Umbreon, Dawn might feel a little better if she finds you sleeping when she gets back."

Slightly flustered by May's sudden take of command, Umbreon didn't voice a reply. He instead complied by laying on his back.

"Besides, a good Ranger needs plenty of rest, right?"

Dusk almost immediately sat in an upright position. "Don't you-"

Whatever his threat was, it wasn't noted. May had already gotten to her feet and skipped away, giggling the entire time.

With mixed feelings about the remark, Dusk laid back down. His hand brushed over his pants pocket, which created an unusual crinkling sound. Before he investigated, his memory answered the question for him; it was the piece of paper that Magma had given him back at the base. He'd forgotten about it before now. Without a ready source of light, he told himself the obvious. "_I'll look at it tomorrow._"

-**OAM**-

Surprising herself, May was only on her trek for a couple minutes when she noticed a familiar lamp just up ahead. Dawn couldn't have been far from Moonite, and the Typhlosion had barely entered into the forest. May cocked an eyebrow, but continued walking.

The Hoenn Coordinator got close enough to hear crying. When she rounded a tree and passed by Moonite, who only gave her a passing glance, she was shocked when she saw only one human in front of her. She was leaning on a tree, looking upwards. The trees had parted in such a way that she could easily watch the starry sky through her watering eyes.

The Dawn-shaped figure knew that May was there, but didn't physically react to her presence. "Dawn's face...It is...beautiful. And I'm...ruining it, with these tears."

Concern that her friend had just complimented herself was May's first thought. She quickly put the pieces together and found out why they had been waiting so long. "Oh...Latias."

Latias nodded twice, though her eyes stayed focused on the sky. "Dawn...She heard you coming, and let me..."

"Yeah..." May couldn't help but watch Dawn's body. Even though Latias couldn't have been inside of it for more than a few minutes, her face was already soaked in tears. It helped May to realize that she hadn't actually seen Dawn cry in awhile. Of course, there were more important things to think about. "Latias, were you thinking about...that Thunder Wave? Is that why you're crying?"

"Hm? Oh...No. I understand that the person's...P-Pokémon was only defending...its Trainer..."

At each pause, Latias began crying a little harder. That meant that each pause made May feel like crying, too. "Then tell me. What's wrong?"

Latias finally turned her head to look at May. Moonite's light made it much easier to see Dawn's bloodshot eyes than May wished it had. "May? Do I have...permission to hug you?"

May lit up with a wide smile. If not for Umbreon asking to broaden their friendship, this would have been the best proposition she's had all day. "You always have permission to hug me, Latias!"

Disappointingly, May's shine didn't catch on. Latias walked away from her perch and into May's arms. Once secure in her hold, Dawn's body was convinced to start crying even more. "I...n-need to tell you something."

May closed her eyes and gulped. "_Please be nothing about loving Dawn. Please._"

Latias spoke. All because of her choking, however, May couldn't understand more than a word of what she said. She rubbed Latias's back extra soothingly, hoping she could coax the dragon into a more comfortable state. "Shh, shh...It's okay. It's okay to cry. Let it out..."

The Eon Pokémon had a feeling that she hadn't been understood, and May's generic response further backed up the claim. She took her currently-closest friend's advice and continued her break down.

It was only some set of seconds until Latias forced back her sobbing well enough to form a sentence. May was surprised by her will to voice her thoughts, but said nothing. "Th-th-those men...They-y were the ones who...took my f-friend away from me five years ago."

May's mind quickly flashed back to Littleroot, when Latias had rather angrily explained her past in the third-person. A gasp just as quickly followed. "The boy who...?"

Even though she had a vocal chords now, Latias didn't use them. She nodded her head in answer, heavy tears beginning to surface again.

"That would explain why you got so angry at them...huh?" asked May weakly.

Latias's hands clamped onto May's shirt and skin tighter. "I will never...forget those costumes..."

"Latias..." May softly sobbed, which caught the dragon by surprise. "I'm so sorry. I have no idea what to say that will make you feel better. What should I say? I promise, I'll say it..."

There was a pause. "Bona bonum habent intus..." She gave the quietest of giggles, trying hard to find entertainment in whatever she could at the moment. "It sounds strange in human."

May blinked. She wasn't really expecting an answer; definitely not that one. "Um...What?"

"In my species, it is...a saying. It means that good things will soon come. The one who was once my mother...She said this to me many times. It means a lot to me." Latias snuggled deeper into May's grasp as she spoke.

The target knew that Latias was perhaps trying to hint at something. But that could be a problem for another day. "In that case, I'll stand here and say it all night. Bona bo...Wait, what was it again?"


	20. Risking it All

The time was two minutes to seven. That's when Gold rolled over in his sleep and got a mouthful of grass. He was quick to wake up and cough, but he didn't disturb anyone else enough to wake them up. When he took a quick glance around the barely-lit camp anyway, he saw that one member was already conscious.

Arms folded and turned towards the next city, Dusk stood tall. From the angle Gold was looking at, he appeared to be rather confident. Since he'd gotten plenty of sleep, Gold decided to hop onto his own feet and have an early-morning chat.

Dusk was reasonably startled when two hands latched onto and shook his shoulders. "Hey, bud! What got you up so early?"

A frustrated, closed-mouth sigh was heard. Gold shifted his eyes a bit and saw his bud holding on to a slip of paper. It didn't look like there was more than a sentence on it. That got him only more curious.

"What's that?"

Dusk knew what Gold was referencing without even asking. He glanced quickly at the paper, mentally debating with himself about what to do next. Quickly enough, however, he handed the sheet off.

The older Trainer received it and, after securing it from a sudden aggressive breeze, mumbled every other word he read aloud. "_I miss my Skitty more than I thought I would. Is she doing okay? -Jo_" He read it over again, just to make sure there wasn't something obvious he was missing. "So, uh, what's this?"

"It was all sitting in front of me the entire time..." Umbreon stated, not caring that it didn't really answer his question. "The Skitty named Cherry...Her being at May's house without an explanation."

No response. Gold was way too confused for that.

"Gold, my mom is..." he started, but trailed away. Was Gold really the first one he wanted to share this to? He couldn't answer himself with "yes" to that. Instead, he did what he knew would work to change the topic: he passively rubbed his eyes. That always seemed to work in the past. "Never mind. We'll deal with that later."

"You sure?" Gold questioned. "You look pretty messed up, bro. No offense."

Dusk paused. That was closer to the truth than it should have been; despite a good night's rest, that one simple note appeared to tire him out early. Still, it wasn't worth it. "Mauville looks like a big city. It might be for the best if I sneak around it. You guys go through, get refreshed and restocked-"

"Dude," his jubilant partner interrupted, thinking he could help on this one, "They gotta know that yer traveling with a pack by now! Ever hear of guilty by association?"

Umbreon said nothing.

"We're in just as deep'a hot water as you are. Just chill. As long as we take it smooth, we'll get in there, get refreshed and restocked twice over, and keep on keepin' on! Dig?"

"Yeah…" Dusk was forced to put on a smirk. Knowing that he'd gotten all of his friends in trouble wasn't the confidence booster he was hoping for. "Guess so."

"A'ight. Cool. You know, you bring up a good point, though. Since it's still early morn, why don't we wake the crew up and set off before Mauville gets too crowded?"

As if they were trained, Team Missile were on their feet nearly right after being awoken. There was still fifty-five minutes left to the hour, and they wanted all they could get. Proper greetings weren't given until they were already on the road, including Dawn's daily hug by Latias.

-**OAM**-

Despite their own track record, the entire group made it inside Gold's apartment in one piece. With the clock set firmly at 11:30, there wasn't a member that didn't gratefully inhale any food that the host laid out on the table. With so many mouths to feed, Gold's food supply was diminished before everyone was completely full, but they weren't at all any worse for wear.

The apartment room, unsurprisingly, resembled Gold's personality – chaotic. Sports magazines, empty pizza boxes, and a couple video game controllers laid around without any purpose other than to be stepped on. Next to the small kitchen was an acceptable living room. A huge window showed a view of the entire city of Mauville.

Somewhat ironically, almost everything in the room was green. The floor, walls, and even the couch that Dusk was sprawled out on all shared a similar color.

The only sounds he could hear were Dawn, who was talking to Latias as they sat in the same bean-bag chair behind the couch somewhere; the remaining three plus Wizard, who had never left the kitchen; and the television, as he flipped through all the channels that Gold's television received. Since he had an earlier start to his day than the rest of the squad, Umbreon felt his half-asleep state was justified.

It wasn't too long before both Brendan and May stepped into the living room. May was attempting the impossible task of tightening her bandana with one hand, since the other was being held by her partner.

"Hey, chief," the same partner called as they walked to the side of the couch, "When did you say we were leaving?"

"Later," Dusk replied, simultaneously yawning to prove his point.

"Good. We still get to yell at her, then."

As the Hoenn Trainers made their way over to girls, their hands broke apart. This let Brendan fold his arms, while May placed her hands on her hips. They towered over both Dawns with wide smirks.

Latias giggled, quite apparently amused by the development somehow. Opposite of that, Dawn cocked an eyebrow. "And?"

"Annnd..." May began, leaning over them slightly. "Since when do Team Missile members hide their birthdays from each other?"

Being the only one to have heard nothing about this topic, Latias turned to Dawn in interest.

Now with three intruding gazes instead of two, Dawn felt even less comfortable. "Uh...I wanted to tell you yesterday, but then Roark was there, then Magma, and-"

"No dice," Brendan interjected. "Umbry already told us all about how you were specifically waiting for nighttime."

This is a spotlight that the blue-haired girl wished she could have avoided. She itched her forehead and decided that sarcasm was her next best route. "Thank you, Umbry."

Though exhausted, Dusk was happy to raise his hand above the couch in recognition of the statement.

"Just so we're clear, we had jack to give you," Brendan notified to the belated birthday girl. "Still, the fact's there that instead of attempting to ruin a team full of megalomaniacs, we would have gone to an amusement park or something."

Dawn couldn't have been more thankful when Dusk suddenly sat up in his seat, shouting, "Whoa, whoa, whoa," to quiet the entire apartment room.

Gold, with a certain Pikachu on his head and wearing his hat, walked into the living room. "Was' going on?"

The answer was given in the form of the television's volume being turned up drastically. Everybody was quick to turn to it, leading way for a gasp to come out of most of them.

"...has been spotted at the Mauville Game Corner," the newscaster reported. "Whether you were planning on a family trip or winning it all, police are strictly advising the entire town to completely avoid the popular casino until Dusk is apprehended. At this time, authorities are racing their way to the scene."

The volume control was never turned back down. That didn't stop the room from going entirely silent.

Human, human-shape, and Wizard eyes all looked at one another without a word. In approximately one second, everyone dropped everything they had been doing and bolted for the door.

On their way to the Game Corner, which happened to be not very far from the apartment, Dusk was on the wrong end of more than pointed finger. Still, he remained firm in his decision to not be effected by the near-constant shouts of, "There he is!" by the citizens of Mauville. None were brave enough to attempt to stand in his way, so he led his team towards its destination with just a touch of relief.

Upon reaching the scene, they discovered that the police had yet to arrive. In fact, nothing stood in their way of the front door.

For Dawn, though, Latias had other plans. She grabbed Dawn's arms, put a finger on her own mouth so as to shush Dawn, and led her to a nearby alleyway. Since the two had been in the rear, she had done this successfully without getting noticed.

Dawn was understandably curious, and her voice came out sounding rushed. "Latias, I'm sorry, but this isn't really a good time to do the mind-switch-thing. They really need both of us at our best, and-"

Latias shook her head, which shut Dawn up. Once it was quiet again, she pointed a finger towards the roof of the Game Corner.

"...Hm?"

Meanwhile, the remaining four charged through the front door. Brendan was the only one who realized they had lost two vital members, but he didn't mention it to the group. He told himself that they probably found a quarter on the sidewalk and would follow them in a minute.

No one was especially surprised to find the casino completely void of people. The only patron remaining was Umbreon's imposter himself. Unlike the last encounter, once he laid eyes on the team, a wide smirk covered his face. No Pikachu was on his shoulder this time, either.

Considering the popularity of the building, it was an unfittingly quaint casino. In the middle of the room rested only a dozen slot machines, half a dozen video card games, and a few roulette tables. In the back of the moderately-sized building were things such as a money changer and even a small food court.

The doppelganger had been standing in front of one of the slot machines, kicking it in the hopes something would come out. Upon noticing his familiar adversaries, he turned to face them, but failed to move more than that.

Much like the last encounter, Brendan took the time to crack his finger bones. "You're a gamblin' man, you know that?" he called out to him.

'Dusk' gave a small snort in response. The smirk failed to even waver.

"Let's see if his luck holds out!" May pressed on, lifting up a Pokéball.

"Oh, wait, wait, I got one!" Gold shot one of his own Pokémon's homes into the air, then caught the ball as it came back down. "This guy just don't know when to fold 'em!"

Brendan finally armed himself with a ball as well. "C'mon, Umbry. Last shot for a pun."

Much like his look-alike, the real Umbreon spoke nothing. After having taken residence on his Trainer's shoulder, Wizard hopped off and landed on all fours. He glared threateningly at the imposter. "Pika...Pikachuu!"

"Not bad," Brendan said. "I think I like Gold's the most, though."

'Dusk' had taken about as much sarcasm as he could handle. With a quick reach into his pocket, he pulled out a weapon of some sort. The mystery was short-lived, since he soon pulled a pin out of it.

"I bet it's a smoke grenade," the real Dusk concluded.

Gold's eyes widened slightly. "Dude, I hope so, because if that's a real 'nade, we're all _dead!_"

"You won't be getting away this time!" May swiftly released her Pokéball, which held Pelipper. The oblivious Flying-type gave a sloppy salute as it appeared on the ground. "Pelipper, blow the smoke away!"

As she completed her sentence, the grenade that had gotten tossed in between the team and the imposter began to leak the predicted smoke at an alarming rate of speed. Pelipper was quickly on the case, getting into the air and flapping its wings madly.

The vision impediment was quick to be taken care of. 'Dusk' was revealed to be running, but not in a different direction. He was bolting straight at the team with the same amount of agility that he had previously used on Route 113.

The surprise factor alone netted him everything he wanted to do. He knocked the Pokéballs straight out of Brendan's and Gold's hands. One was sent upwards towards the ceiling, while the other was kicked to the far right side of the room.

His mistake was clear when a sudden Thunderbolt struck him directly. Wizard refused to drop the charge, even after 'Dusk' stumbled back almost to his original position near the slot machine.

It was only a few moments before the intense lightning attack needed to be dropped. The bandana-sporting Pikachu wobbled in exhaustion, but stubbornly didn't drop.

The entire casino was silent for a few moments. Brendan caught his Pokéball as it dropped back down, but Gold didn't want to take his eyes away from the target to go retrieve his own soldier.

'Dusk' finally stood up straight and dusted off some of his clothing. He proceeded to face the team again and smile devilishly.

Wizard was the only one not surprised by the development. He was too weak to be able to care much. "Ain't no one taking a bolt like that and walking away from it!" Gold shouted.

"Careful," Brendan warned. "Give him a minute, and he might prove you wrong."

May tried keeping the tone of worry out of her voice. She didn't do it well, though. "U-Umbreon...What do we do?"

Once more, Dusk remained wordless. He watched the imposter with a bit of a blank expression. The look that was returned to him was much more smug.

"Not helping, buddy," Brendan whined, aggravated. "Hey, Azumarill, how about-"

Just as the Hoenn Trainer was going to release the Pokéball, a quiet, but very distinct thump was heard from up above. Everyone, imposter included, turned to the sound.

May was the first to look back down and notice that 'Dusk' was distracted. Her intentions of letting that go unpunished were low. "Pelipper, Water Gun!"

'Dusk' returned his attention to the team just in time to get his face splashed by the bird's spray of water. It pushed him even farther back until he finally tripped on a chair.

Disoriented by that, he failed to notice when a red- and white-colored dragon flew in from the ceiling, after having literally blown a hole through it. On its back was a heroine that knew she had the element of stealth on him.

The rest of the group watched in silent amusement as Latias ever-so quietly got close enough to the ground for Dawn to jump off. By the time she got to that point, 'Dusk' was already back on his feet.

Becoming bold once more, Dawn made a speedy dash. She brought both of her arms underneath his, attempting to temporarily lock them in place.

However, Dawn didn't take into account the imposter's ability to adapt. It took only a second for him to shake her off and proceed to shove her to the ground.

He looked both ways and quickly came to the obvious conclusion that he was trapped. The four humans, along with two Pokémon, blocked the main exit to the building, while Latias alone made him think twice of running in the opposite direction, not to mention Dawn was still there, albeit on the floor. Any remaining direction was blocked by the various casino games.

He found there to be only one option. He took a couple steps towards the exit, then stopped. Hardly showing any shame, he snapped his fingers.

Brendan, much like the rest of the gang, tensed up and became even more cautious. "So what's that supposed to-"

That single moment was exactly what 'Dusk' had wanted. With the several steps he'd taken before, he was able to dash straight in between all of the ones that were supposed to be guarding the exit. Between the confusion of the snapped fingers and the sudden rush, all of them were guilty of freezing in place instead of stepping in his way.

"That did...nothing. Absolutely nothing," Brendan needlessly notified. "I was expecting giant robots to rise up from the ground or something."

"That guy is good," Gold stated, looking out the open door.

Seemingly more than anyone else, Latias wasn't about to let that be the end of it. She hurriedly got to Dawn's side and prodded her to hop on. After the girl was secured, Latias flew over to the other group, chirped, and offered one of her claws to Dusk.

He first looked at May, who gave him a quiet nod. Finally, it was the true Dusk's turn to smirk. He took his right hand and gripped Latias' oddly-shaped appendage as hard as he could.

Setting her remaining paw on top of Dusk's hand for a little extra grip, Latias squeaked one more time. She proceeded straight through the door and took to the skies, Dusk dangling in her grip.

"Dude, I so get to do that next," Gold announced, "We could call it...Lati-gliding."

May giggled. The remaining Coordinator, however, smacked Gold in the back of the head before pointing down the building. "Just go get your Pokéball, would you?"

"Ow, ow, fine!" Rubbing the back of his head, Gold muttered curses as he slowly made his way to the point where his Pokéball had been kicked.

Wizard, slowly recovering from his electrical outburst, heaved a disappointed sigh due to being forgotten about by his own Trainer once again. He hopped into May's arms, knowing that she would be willing to give him her condolences.

While Gold was half-way there, the fire exit door in the far back got slammed open without a warning. Expecting the heat, all three Trainers were prepared for a ton of questioning. This led them to be fairly surprised when a single teenage girl bolted into the room.

Her distinctive features were all in place - the silver hair pulled into a ponytail, the odd, orange-colored eyes, and the bounty hunter-like get-up. After one quick look around the room, she howled in frustration. "Ugh, late again!"

Recovering from the scare, May resumed petting the Pikachu she was holding and spoke up. "Late for what?"

The young woman walked over. Gold hastened his objective so he could get back and hear her story better. "Sorry. It's my job to bring the baddies in. I'm a bounty hunter, you see."

May let out a quiet gasp. "Like Kartock..."

"Who?" she returned.

"Ah...Never mind," Brendan answered for his girlfriend. "Keep talking."

She nodded casually, not really thinking about taking Brendan's demand offensively. "Anyway, I'm a friend of Dusk's, and there's not really a bigger criminal out there right now than his imposter. If I took this guy out, I'd rake in all the money on his head and be Dusk's buddy for life. Two Taillow with one Geodude, you know?"

Not only did this girl sound familiar to Brendan, but she looked it, too. He assumed by the fact she hasn't mentioned it that she doesn't remember him, and he wasn't going to blow that if it was avoidable. "What's your name?"

She put on a friendly, though unassuring smile. "They call me Keerasua."

-**OAM**-

Spectators were in awe as they watched Dusk get carried above the Mauville streets by way of a legendary dragon. Something that was farther unsettling was the "other" Dusk running it on foot. News cameras were quick to the scene, often two at a time so both of the male Sinnoh heroes could be recorded at once.

Latias never flew higher than the roofs of houses, and it was for the same reason that she was holding onto Dusk instead of letting him ride her: the imposter. Flying up too high would risk losing sight of him, and if Umbreon needed to be dropped off to intercept him, it was quicker this way. Dawn was keeping an eye on the target as well, but she also had the job of making sure the focused Latias didn't crash into any Flying-types, trees, or buildings.

The latter-most obstacle became less abundant as they broke away from Mauville and reached Route 110. A certain building was up ahead, and the imposter was willing to make full use of its services.

Dusk and Dawn shared a confused glance with each other as they watched Dusk's clone hop over the small fence that surrounded the building's yard. It was Latias who screeched the moment she saw the boy jack a bicycle.

"Put me down!" Dusk yelled out, needing to get his voice through the sharp wind.

The Eon Pokémon nodded in understanding. She began a descent, dropping him at a safe distance inside of the same fenced-in area.

"We'll go on ahead," Dawn notified, bearing an uncommon, serious expression. "It looks like there's only one way off of this road, so he's bound to run into one of us."

Though paying attention to his closest friend, Dusk didn't react. He grabbed a second bike, pushed the kickstand up with his foot, and turned it around. He hopped on his new ride, stopping only to look at a sign attached to the outside wall of the building. "'Cycling Road. Rent bicycles here.' Hope they have a rent now, pay later plan."

In spite of the circumstances, Latias remained cheerful enough to dignify the crack with a giggle. She immediately tore off after that, intending to find a choke point in Cycling Road.

Dusk looked away from the sign and saw something he didn't expect. His rival was sitting on his own bike in front of the open doorway, smirking and apparently waiting for him. The moment Dusk placed a foot on the pedal, the doppelganger took off into the building, which connected Cycling Road to Route 110.

The boys blasted into the door, cycling straight past a counter with a short, elderly man behind it. His bushy eyebrows covered most of his sight, so he did nothing but wave as the two blew past him. "You kids have fun now!"

-**OAM**-

"I'm going to call home, okay? You want to come with me, don't you, Wizard?"

"Pika pi."

It took some time, but the second group also made their way to Route 110. Rather than Cycling Road, they decided on taking the much more scenic, though much longer bottom path. With a speedy villain and flying dragon to contend with, they knew that trying to compete would yield no results.

Instead, they were at the very first corner that the narrow strip of land offered. A sparkling lake surrounded them on nearly every side. There were no trees to rest under, but the path was carved in a way so that Trainers could walk harmlessly through the trimmed grass, while wild Pokémon stayed in their purposely-unshaved grass that was on either side.

The trek, combined with the previous battle with Dusk's imposter, left the team mildly exhausted again. May, with a Pikachu on her head, had walked off a short distance so she could ring her house without disturbing the others. Gold, Brendan, and Keerasua remained sitting down, resting and waiting for May to finish.

"I think it's pretty cool that you guys managed to stay so close to Dusk," Keerasua broached. "Considering how much heat he was taking."

"Actually, we did our best to avoid the news for that very reason." Brendan dusted off his shoulders. "Let's just say that we figured what we didn't know wouldn't hurt us."

"Too true."

Silence made its unwelcome appearance as neither contributed further to the topic, and Gold remained watching Wizard from a distance trying to tag a Beautifly.

After snapping back to reality and realizing nobody was talking, Gold finally spoke. "Y'know, I would so be in for a trade for that Pikachu if he ever decides on that."

"Ha. Sit on your hands and wait for it." Brendan showed a light smile, but it was dropped all too soon. "...Hey, Gold, would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Huh? Oh, not at all! I can finally give that Rod May gave me a spin." The young man dove through his belongings until he came across the collapsible fishing rod. "Check it, man."

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember that we aren't going to wait six hours for you to lose your first bite."

Gold got to his feet and hissed. "That was one chilly breeze, bro."

Nothing more was said before Gold stepped closer to the water's edge and casted his line. The two remaining could see that he was bobbing his head to some beat, but were scared to try to figure out what it was.

"Need to talk?" Keerasua started innocently.

Brendan's first reply was also getting to his feet. Unlike the last time he folded his arms and hovered over a girl, there wasn't a cheerful smirk on his face. A contemplative frown took that job instead. "Yeah. Keerasua. It's your full name, right?"

"Uhh..." The silver-haired, fifteen-year-old girl blinked. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Long name. You must have a nickname, then."

At the moment Keerasua realized where this was going, she rolled backwards defensively and stood on her feet. A piercing glare was aimed at Brendan, who failed to react to it. "You _know?_"

Not only did he not acknowledge her leer, Brendan gave her a sharp look of his own. "You forget that we met before. Petalburg. You and Silver were going at it like monkeys while the entire city was falling apart. Then I definitely heard the conversation that mentioned you working for Magma."

Angered with her plans foiled, Key snorted, but said nothing.

"I want this to end civily. These two are going to go nuts if they find out we've been traveling with a Magma blowhard." Brendan took a couple steps forward, getting closer to Key. Knowing that an easy escape was unlikely with May and Gold being here, she was forced to let him have his way for the time being. "So first I want you to mention that you left the stove on. Then I want you to run back and tell your entire team that we have each and every one of their numbers. Groudon won't be moving from its spot. You understand me?"

"Those are some big words I'm hearing come from somebody who doesn't even know where our base is," she bit back.

Brendan turned around and walked back to his original position, this time keeping his back turned to Key. "We'll see about that when we knock on your front door. Get out of my sight, would'ja?"

Key hesitantly took two steps backwards. Just as reluctantly, she turned around and headed back in the direction of Mauville.

Like clockwork, May brought her Pokénav away from her ear and sighed blissfully. The first thing she did when she turned around was run, but she stopped quickly when she saw that Brendan was virtually alone. "Where did Keerasua go?"

Brendan took a moment to respond. "She told me something about leaving an appliance on. Really, if she hated hanging out with Gold that much, you'd think she woulda come up with a better excuse to leave than that."

May shrugged, then continued running the rest of the distance. When she got directly next to Brendan, she lightly grabbed his chin and rested her lips directly on his.

The action understandably startled Brendan at first, but he was quick to give into the pleasure. What seemed like straight minutes later, he pulled back slightly with a smirk. "And that was for?"

She brought her hands from Brendan's face to around his waist. Her head snuggled comfortably into his chest, where she closed her eyes. "My parents...They think they're going to get back together."

"Mm...And I reap the benefits, huh?"

May quietly giggled at both the remark and the kiss that was planted on top of her bandana.

Unfortunately, though perhaps predictably, the sweet moment came to a crashing ruin when Gold turned around and spotted the embrace. "Dude," he said, holding back a gag, "Get a room!"

"Get a life!" Brendan quickly bounced back.

-**OAM**-

Dusk had never pedaled so fast in his life.

The situation remained unchanged. Dusk was bolting after 'Dusk' while the two women kept to the sky. Somewhere along the line, they had shaken off the news helicopters, which Umbreon couldn't have been more thankful for. He needed all of the concentration he could get.

The boy was pushed to his limits as he tried to keep up with his imposter, who was effortlessly going a little bit faster. In spite of that, they constantly remained within two bikes' distance of each other.

Latias was their ace in the hole. Being able to speed ahead much faster than even the imposter at any given time, coupled with not needing to worry about terrain, the dragon was simply waiting for the best time to jump into their enemy's path. Until that moment came, she was focused on keeping up with the two on the ground.

"You must be getting a ton of amusement out of this..." Dusk panted out while riding.

His opposite smirked, though Dusk couldn't see it. What he did see was the nonchalant shrug that followed it.

Two things were necessary to compete on Cycling Road: skill and luck. With all of the sharp and self-proclaimed insane turns, Umbreon, not being much of a cyclist, had to pray that he had enough of the latter to hold out. The silver lining was that all of the other riders saw them coming ahead of time, pulling out of the way so the Dusks could continue their race.

An aerial view revealed that they were already on the largest single section of Hoenn's Cycling Road. This also meant that there was only two more turns to take before the end of the winding trail.

Having access to that fantastic view, Latias needed only a nod from Dawn to deem that it was time to take action. She flew ahead and got to the very end of the strip they were currently on. She was quick to lower herself down to the road, physically blocking any other turn from being made.

Though he'd been curious of what the red dragon had been doing, 'Dusk' never suspected that she would throw herself in the way of him while he was going so fast. With Dusk on his heels, he had only one means of escape

Causing the heroes' eyes to double in size, 'Dusk' took a sudden right turn. To get over the wall that safely protected bikers from falling off the road, he executed a wheelie. The front tire hopped on top of the wall, and from there, he easily pushed the rest of the bike off. He pulled off a single rotation in the air before landing safely.

The true Dusk was flailing by this point. As something like an automatic reaction, he attempted to do the same thing, though it ended in a much less stylish way. The wheelie never happened, so Dusk was thrown from his bike and over the wall.

The only luck that held through for him was that Cycling Road wasn't far off of the ground. Though she tried, Latias wasn't able to catch him before his face crashed right into the dirt path. Now in an alarming, but not fatal amount of pain, Dusk didn't even notice as his imposter smiled at him one more time before driving off west towards Route 103.

Latias sorrowfully hovered towards Umbreon's crash landing spot. Dawn wasted no time jumping down and running over to him. She knelt down and pushed gently on his shoulders. "Dusk, say something! Please!"

"Ow..." he moaned painfully.

"That's...fair enough." Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Dawn helped Dusk sit up. Once that was accomplished, she walked away a few feet to grab his beret, which had flown off in the event. "We might be able to still catch him," she notified, walking back to him and offering his hat back.

He took the headgear, but not the offer. He rubbed his forehead after gently equipping his cap. "...N-no. We've been tracking this guy for the past hour, and he's dodged us the entire time. Let's face it, today just isn't the day."

She knelt down again and brushed a hand through the hair on the side of his head. "Are you okay?"

"Sh-shook up. I'll be fine." He buried his face into his hands and left it at that.

Dawn sat directly next to him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she rubbed his back softly. Latias hovered over, chirped worriedly, then laid down on his opposite side.

-**OAM**-

The strong headache didn't waver, even after four hours had passed. The time stood at 17:36. Brendan, May, and Gold would have come into view, had the Sinnoh Trainers been looking east.

Naturally, a worried Pikachu and an even more worried May dashed ahead of the other two. They made sure that they were the first to meet the trio, who hadn't moved much from their positions two hundred and forty minutes back.

Dusk had moved the least, literally not having moved at all. Dawn was now resting her head in Dusk's lap, content in a light sleep. The remaining had changed into her favorite human form. Her knees were at her chest, and she seemed deep in thought.

When the Hoenn Coordinator and her Pikachu friend realized the overwhelming amount of quietness that surrounded their friends, they slowed down a bit. "Guys?" May squeaked.

Latias jerked her head to the sound, which was proceeded by a welcoming smile. The other two didn't move, though Dusk also grinned. "Hey, May."

Unknowingly not helpful to his Trainer's pounding head, Wizard skipped forward and leaped onto Dusk's shoulder. "Chu?"

"I'll be fine. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway."

With that sentence, Dawn stirred into consciousness. She slowly rose and looked around to see the entire gang surrounding her. "Oh...Did you guys just get here?" she inquired sleepily.

"No!" Brendan yelled, "We've been sittin' here for hours, just waiting for you to get up!"

"Brendan!" May snapped, finding the comment inappropriate at a time like this. She knelt down next to Dawn and spoke, keeping her voice even softer than usual. "What happened with...?"

There was silence. Dusk didn't know how to respond right away, and his partner didn't want to be the one to do it. Finally, the male spoke up. "If I never see a bike again, it'd be too soon."

May gasped. "You were on Cycling Road? How did you get-"

""The hard way," Dusk interrupted without emotion.

Brendan folded his arms. "Some call that the easy way, actually."

Taking initiative, Gold pulled a medicine bottle out of his backpack. Without a word, he offered the canister to Dusk.

Now with medicine in him, time passing caused the headache to do the same. By 20:00, it was reduced to a pain that barely bothered him. This also meant that it was far too dark to continue traveling for the day, so a temporary campfire was made on the spot they were at. Some stories were told, including Keerasua, though Brendan stayed out of that discussion entirely, mentioning only that he wanted to talk to Umbreon later.

The opportunity for that came more conveniently than he had expected. Latias had pulled Dawn aside, away from the campfire's light. Gold and May offered to gather some more wood for that same dwindling campfire. With no one else but Wizard present, Brendan figured that this would be as good a time as any.

"Umbry."

"Pika," Wizard responded for him.

"No, the other Umbry." Unable to remain sitting any longer, Brendan stood up. He set his hands on his hips, though there wasn't a reason for it. "About...Keerasua."

"Yeah?" Umbreon poked, wanting him to get to the point.

"Remember that Key you were talking about back at Magma's base?"

The realization froze Umbreon's thoughts. That led into a fairly long pause, until Brendan finally spoke up again.

"I'm not sure if you understand everything that means. Her appearing there tells us a _lot_. Like, for example, your clone is definitely affiliates with Magma."

"What makes you say that?"

Brendan shrugged. "What she said to us in the Game Corner. Something like if she took your imposter down, she'd be your best friend for life. The way she put it just made it sound off to me. He might have been willing to take the fall, just so she could get back on your good side. Who knows?"

As usual, Dusk said nothing. Wizard looked at him curiously, actually finding his reaction odd, but made no peep.

"She didn't lay a hand on any of us," the Hoenn Trainer reassured after a moment's silence. "I busted her and scared her off without the other two even knowing. I wanted to report back to you before that happened."

Dusk looked up to the sky. He ended up being disappointed when he saw that there were too many clouds to see any stars. "Why is it that the only time in the race that you want to give up is right at the end?"

"Pika, chu..."

"The Wiz is right," Brendan confirmed. "Hang in there, buddy. Heads are rolling once we get to Petalburg."

"Where do we go from here?" Dusk asked, desperate to change the subject. He didn't even want to think about the confusing factor that was Key right now. "Keep heading down?"

"That'd be a negative." Brendan pointed a thumb west. "We'll head out that way. It'll take us to 103, which leads to Oldale. Oldale's a hop, two skips, and a jump from our target town."

Umbreon laid back in the grass. A furry mouse ran over to his head to keep him company. "I'll be wrong for that."

If not for the silence, two quiet footsteps would have never been heard coming up from the side. All three looked over and realized it was the direction that Latias had taken Dawn. The girl just barely stepped into the light that illuminated from the fire.

"Umb...Umbreon? May I...speak to you?"

Dusk sat back up so he could give a curious glance at Brendan. He got only a raised eyebrow in return.

"Yeah."

-**OAM**-

"Gold?"

"Muh?"

"Can I...get something off my chest?"

He finally swallowed. "Sure!"

Proving chivalry was dead, May was the one stuck with the duty of carrying most of the wood. Gold remained on standby to "test" any berries that they came across to see if they were poisonous or not. Of course, this usually meant that he downed entire bunches of them at once. His traveling partner tried smiling at his antics, but none of them ended well.

Despite asking that question, it took her a few moments to follow up with anything. For Gold, that was too long. "Oh, did you mean literally?" Gold aimed their one and only flashlight at May's body. "I thought you meant, you know..."

"Gold!" she screeched, hastily slapping the light source away. "I did. The truth is that I'm terrified..."

"Ooh, Oran!" Gold bent down to a bush that grew the blue-colored berries. He never stopped walking in the process, so he only got to nab three. "A favorite. Anyway, terrified of what?"

"Do you take anything seriously?" May wondered. She was a little hurt that her topic almost got thrown away in favor of fruit, but she kept the pain out of her voice.

"Silver." Gold threw one of the berries into his mouth. "Dunno why. No one can bring out that side to me 'cept him."

Surprised, though satisfied with a non-sarcastic response, May decided to let it go. "I'm terrified of going to Petalburg. If that really is where Team Magma's headquarters are...Brendan and I had never been put into that position before. All of our Pokémon were getting exhausted, and Latias was too terrified to move...I don't know what would have happened to us."

Into his mouth went the second of three berries. "If?"

"If Dawn hadn't showed up," she finished.

"...And?"

May blinked. "And what?"

"And what got it in your head that she won't do it again?"

As if they weren't already watching her shoes, May's eyes saddened even further. "It's not a good idea to rely on one person to save you..."

"Girl, you ain't! If it'll make you feel better, let's add this up." Gold threw the last Oran Berry on the ground. Though he kept a firm grip on the flashlight, he lifted a finger up for each name called. "Besides Brendan and Dawn, you got heavy D, myself. Silver's going to be there. Say what you want, but I think you know that he'd rescue you in a pinch. Latias! Uh...Maybe we could even track down that Keera-whatever girl and get her to lend a hand!"

"Yeah, maybe..."

He twirled the light around in his fingers. Once he realized that meant that they had no light source to see where they were going, he quickly focused it back onto the path. "You're getting my point, right? My point is that you ain't alone. Not by a long shot. 'n besides, who says that wasn't all just a fluke back there? Nobody takes my boy Brendan out that easily, and definitely not when he's got his girl and that dragon by his side."

May couldn't help a shy smile. "You're sweet, Gold..."

"Naw. You're just too easy to convince!"

Knowing that wasn't entirely true, May made a second grab for her Pokénav today. "You gave me an idea," she said while pounding away at some keys.

It took a usual amount of rings, but the other side answered. "'Yello."

"Hi, Roark. Say, could you do me a favor?"

What sounded like a popped bubble blown from gum exploded into the speaker before a response was heard. "Oh, you can't afford me, babe."

"No. I meant...Well, in Petalburg..."

-**OAM**-

Latias, as Dusk presumed, led the boy away from the camp. The goal was to just get out of Brendan's earshot, though they ended up going farther than that anyway. The trip there was silent, up until Umbreon decided to break that.

"Latias?"

She habitually nodded. The darkness of night prevented Dusk from seeing it, but he was able to gauge the answer by her not denying it.

"Did...Dawn tell you it was okay to...?"

"Umbreon..." She finally stopped walking and turned to face him. Once he also stopped, Latias used the close positions to hug him.

Being hugged by his girlfriend who wasn't actually his girlfriend was confusing enough to stop Dusk from saying a word.

"I'm leaving," she whispered quietly.

"What?" he whisper-yelled back at her.

The dragon broke the embrace, even backing away a few steps. Those memories of their way to Hoenn always struck when Dusk shouted at her. "I'm...leaving."

"No, I heard you." Dusk let out a quiet sigh. "I mean...Why?"

Latias kicked Dawn's shoe into the ground as a nervous habit. "You would...be angry. I don't know if I should tell you."

Dusk again closed the gap between them. Latias's head quickly glanced at the hand that rested on her shoulder, but returned her gaze back to Dusk when he spoke. "Latias, this is a horrible time to back out on me. But if you have a good enough reason, I'll let it go."

The timid girl forced herself to give a shaky nod. "Okay. It is true that I...know things."

"Things? An example being?"

The only response Latias gave were audible, scared breaths.

Dusk narrowed his gaze. The blocked light from the moon allowed him to just barely catch the reflection of Dawn's eyes staring back at him. "Latias, do you know why you can only sense my imposter from time to time?"

No answer. He decided to try a more direct approach.

"Latias, do you know who my imposter is?"

"Umbreon, I must go," she responded, this time hastily.

"What's going to happen if I find out who-"

No human could have gotten the words out fast enough. Dawn's body dropped to its knees, which Umbreon heard and caught before she fell to the ground completely.

Even before Dawn regained consciousness, the corner of Umbreon's eye caught the silhouette of a four-foot dragon fly into the sky, having risen from the forest next to him.

"Dusk?..." His eyes went back to Dawn in time to see a hand raised up to her head. "All right, answer truthfully...Was it Latias or a truck?"

It was Dusk's turn to fall silent in the face of a question. He went back to watching the same spot he had just seen Latias rise from. She wasn't there anymore.

"On the bright side, at least I didn't fall off Cycling Road..." She started to get to her feet, but that plan was dropped almost instantly when her head pounded twice as hard. "I'll need to...talk to her later," she mumbled out over the pain. "I really don't care that she does it, but I'd like some sort of warning first...Maybe we'll make a neon sign for her to pull out."

Still not even a chuckle was heard from Dusk. Dawn was starting to get worried. "Is everything okay?"

"...Why don't we call it a night," Dusk said, not making it sound much like a question.

The only girl left in the vicinity was going from worry to panic. She kept her hand holding up her forehead, even though the throbbing pain was a rather low priority on the list. "Dusk, where's Latias?"

Unknowingly becoming what he hated the most, for the second time Dusk failed to respond.

"No, now _you're_ the one messing the script up," Dawn accused. "That's where Latias comes up from behind and hugs me."

He recognized that line from when he had used it on Dawn back in Veilstone. That still didn't convince him to reply.

"...Why didn't she talk to me?" Dawn wondered softly, now with two fresh tear tracks running down her face. "I could've done...something. I could have said something so she'd stay..." A nervous, but distinguishable gasp came from Dawn. "The whistle! Couldn't you just use-"

"She left on her own free will, Dawn," Dusk stated bluntly, though sadly. "She only hears the whistle. She isn't magnetized to it."

The next few moments passed slowly, and they weren't helped along at all by Dawn breaking into a full cry. As usual, the headache pain was beginning to lighten up, but that was the only positive thing happening for her right now.

She suddenly lifted her head up and glared at Umbreon. "Why did she leave? I swear if it was something you said to her, Corsica..."

Dusk wanted to return the snap, but a part of him realized that doing so would make him the epitome of a hypocrite. Dawn had established a relationship with Latias similar to the one he has with Wizard, and when he was taken away from him, Dusk nearly did more to Dawn than snap at her. For the sake of their relationship with each other, he had to be understanding. "Dawn, we're heading into Magma's HQ, like...tomorrow or the day after. Why would I purposely piss off any of my allies, much less a dragon that some don't even believe is real?"

She opened her mouth, but Dawn quickly closed it and sealed it shut by biting her lip. She had taught herself to control her anger better than that.

"All of Mauville had to see me running after my clone, but I still don't know where that situation stands. Until I know that the world sees me as a hero again, I need to value all of the friends that I have."

"Just, shut up..." she scowled, bringing her legs up so she could rest the side of her head on her knees. "You made your point. I, just...really miss Latias. And knowing that she used me to say goodbye kinda makes it worse. So...Why did she leave?"

Dusk looked back to the camp. Wizard seemed to be having a ball, trying to grab his bandana back from Brendan's clutches. Dawn also saw it and faintly smiled.

"She kept her reason about as vague as every other thing that girl ever said. I couldn't get much more out of her besides that she knew 'too much.' That apparently includes who my imposter is."

"Why didn't she..." The question trailed off only because Dawn knew she couldn't get an answer.

"Don't know," he ended up answering anyway.

Nothing else was said between the two. After a full minute of her head spinning with questions, Dawn came face to face with the conclusion, which was all that mattered.

Latias was gone.

She dived into her boyfriend's body and cried. Comfort was confirmed the moment she became wrapped in his arms, though that somehow only made her cry harder. The sounds that accompanied all waterworks were mostly muffled by Dusk's shirt.

"...Latias..." she said weakly in between chokes.

-**OAM**-

Time led up to 03:00. The air seemed to be especially brisk, but Latias chocked that up to paranoia.

Flying north had been an extra layer of security for the dragon. As soon as she felt that she wasn't within sight of her closest friends, she wasted no time changing her direction to west.

She knew what she was looking for, but not so much where to find it.

Her search started right on Route 103, only a few paces north of Oldale Town. Unable to stay separated from it for long, she returned to Dawn's lookalike form and took a casual stroll into the town.

The same early morning stroll didn't stop until she was at the far edge of 102, minutes away from Petalburg City. She was debating with herself on if to go in or not. While that would mean a premature end to her investigation, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the place.

A distraction came in the form of a twig behind her being snapped. Latias jerked around. The figure in front of her was hard to identify with it being so dark out, but at the moment, she was more worried about the fact that there was a figure in front of her at all.

"So you finally came out to play. But so close to the big girl's part of the playground? You're very brave."

The voice was female, and a bit too threatening for Latias's tastes. Her expression turned to anger, but she wasn't ready to yet reveal who she was.

"You know, Latias, if you follow two really simple rules, we can be great friends."

Latias was left astounded. Whoever it was must not only know her, but see through her disguise of Dawn.

With her hand revealed, she felt forced to transform into her true self. Now in dragon form and in possession of a working voice box, she screeched sharply in the hopes of scaring this woman off.

"Don't even bother." She raised her hand into the sky, leading way for a Pokéball to spring open.

The flash disappeared before the Pokémon fully formed, so Latias was left unsure of what it was. Unfortunately, she found out when it growled its own, familiar name. "Jolt!"

Assuming Latias couldn't see it, the person still grinned. "I caught wind that you had a little incident with a Jolteon. I made sure not to leave unprepared."

She instantly began shaking out of nerves. The last encounter left her in a near-traumatized state. Only this time she was completely alone and without the aid of any light.

"It won't lay a watt of electricity on you if you take me up on my offer," the female promised. "Follow me and do as I say. That's not so much to ask, is it?"

Latias grumbled, but made no movement.

"Good. I was hoping you'd take me up on that."

Without warning, the person dashed up. Before Latias could react much, she felt a needle get dug into her neck. It was only moments until she began to feel dizzy, and only a moment after that until she dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Sweet dreams."


	21. When it Rains

She opened her eyes. The second she did, she felt like shutting them again.

Latias wasn't sure how much time had passed, how she had gotten in human form, or if she was still alive, for that matter. She was unhealthily dizzy, nearly to the point that she got sick. What little of her surroundings she could actually focus on were lit by a dim light placed on the high ceiling, giving the floor and everything else at her length a very eerie feeling. It was still bright enough to see, but just barely.

That is, outside her cell.

She was reasonably quick to notice that she had been placed in some sort of jail. The key element in figuring that out was the series of bars in front of the room's only exit. It was too dark to see anything in her cell, and what little she could see outside seemed to be a hallway of some sort.

Once some minutes passed and she regained more of her wits, Latias came to another obvious, yet startling conclusion - she was shackled. With her human hands and ankles tightly secured in cuffs, whoever her captive was must have attached her to an iron beam near the back wall of the cell.

She had the unfortunate pleasure of another distraction. This one was a loud, heavy gate opening up somewhere out of her sight range. The entire room echoed everything, so it was hard to tell where it had come from. She had a bad feeling in her stomach already.

It wasn't long enough until a person stepped in front of her cell. The person happened to be someone she had seen once, even before they had gotten to Hoenn. She couldn't remember her name, but she wouldn't forget that ponytail.

"And she's finally awake."

With those four words, Latias remembered something else about her. The voice. It was the same one back on the island, and it was the same one who had attacked her earlier on.

Latias attempted to lunge forward, but the shackles on her wrists insisted that she wasn't going far. She could probably change into her dragon form, but she wouldn't have any energy left to still be threatening after that.

"I told you we could be good friends, and for that, you need my name. Call me Key."

Her wardrobe was one that was well-respected, at least by those classified as Magma grunts. Her fit figure complimented the Admin outfit she wore perfectly. The red shirt, which bore the Magma's insignia on it, red-and-black skirt, and knee-high boots were all customary of those in her position. A torso-length cape, also blood-colored, hung down her back.

She placed a hand on her hip. "I don't mean to start anything, but I really don't feel like translating your mute questions right now. Instead, let's get to the point, shall we?"

Key walked out of her sight range, and Latias took the opportunity to frown. She'd pay for mocking her inability to speak. At least, as long as Latias could stay alive long enough to make her pay, she would.

"Oh, are you curious how you shifted back to your other form?" Key called out from the side. "Easy. Hypnotism. It's what this guy's been under for the past...Well, I forget how long."

Latias's eyes quickly watered as she watched a boy get shoved in from the side. He didn't even look conscious; fittingly, he fell straight to the floor. The beret he was wearing went skidding on the ground.

Key also reappeared from the side. She was almost enjoying this, but hid the feeling well. "You've met him once or twice before, right?"

She wanted to scream, but her curse didn't let her. The result with her mouth opening, though she shut it once nothing came out. A few tears ran down her face, but she didn't move her gaze from the boy's drained-looking face.

"You should know who this is." Key squatted down on her knees and ran a hand through his short, black hair. "And you should also know that he really, really doesn't like the cold. So for the past hour or so, we've been pumping ice water into his body."

Latias's face turned horrified.

"'Why?' I bet you'd love to ask? That part's easy, too. We're done with him. We sort of pushed our luck with him as it was, and with the Game Corner incident more or less being a flop, we knew it was time to dispose of him.

"But, you see, that's when a brilliant idea came to mind," Key continued, getting back onto her feet. "We have no use for him...But we could _certainly_ use you. Combine those factors, and we have a hostage situation that most can only dream about."

She made a slow, dramatic reach for behind her body. An unnerving clinging sound accompanied her arm lifting up. Latias could only wish it was longer until she pulled out her unsheathed knife and pointed it straight at the 'Dusk' on the ground. "Join us. _Now_. Or his next five breaths are his last."

Latias lowered her head. It fell as low as it could without breaking off her neck. Even if she could talk, all of her crying would have prevented it from being coherent.

"...Well, that's one breath. Four more and he's your dinner tonight."

The Eon dragon could no longer take it. In spite of them being tied together, Latias lifted a leg up a few inches off the ground, then slammed it down just for the sake of making noise.

"Oh?" Key smirked. "And your verdict?"

An uncountable amount of tears and sobs blocked her ability to answer for awhile, even non-verbally. In fact, she made no other movements until the boy had breathed three more times. She forced herself to act.

With two more sniffles, she gave a small nod.

-**OAM**-

Unlike the day before, Team Missile didn't wake up in synch. It took Brendan to lightly kick Dawn in the arm and make some satirical comment to get her conscious.

She didn't enjoy a second of it, but she forced herself into a sitting position anyway. She rubbed her eyes, only to find them to still be sore.

A look around revealed that everyone seemed to be waiting for her. The Hoenn Trainers surrounded her, May looking concerned. Dusk wasn't far off; he was commanding Wizard to spin on his back and shoot electricity, forming the same impressive shield that he had seen on television back in Mauville. Of course, spotting something potentially dangerous, Gold was the first to dash over and watch.

Dawn already felt like crying again. As long as she cared to remember, she had never been awake for this long before getting flanked by Latias.

"Dawn..." May set a knee on the ground and softly stroked the side of the other girl's arm. "Umbreon told us what happened. Are you...okay?"

She didn't respond for a few moments. She couldn't come up with a good way to. "I've had to deal with worse," she finally said, giving what she wanted to appear to be a neutral shrug.

"Now that's not fair," May accused in response. "You shouldn't compare losing a friend to your other-"

"I didn't _lose_ her," Dawn retorted angrily, "We're going to find her again. She'll explain what that was about, then join us again."

Brendan spoke up. "Girl's gotcha there."

"Still. Dawn, we're friends. You don't need to downplay your emotions for our sakes. If you-" Again, May got interrupted.

"'Downplaying my emotions'? Okay, I was up until four in the morning until I finally _cried_ myself to sleep. Is that better?"

"That would explain the crankiness..." Brendan muttered with a slight smirk, looking in another direction.

"Brendan," May cut in before Dawn could snap again. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Eh." That was supposed to be a "Yeah," but Brendan liked how that came out, anyway. He wandered off towards Gold and Dusk to see what they were up to.

With him gone, Dawn's eyes went back to May as the older woman stood to her feet. She kept her back turned, since that usually seemed to help during confessions. "Dawn...I missed you, you know?"

"Missed me?" Dawn didn't want as much anger in her voice as what was there, but she made no attempt to try again.

"Yeah...Dawn, I love Latias from the bottom of my heart. I don't think you could find a sweeter girl than her. B-but..." May bit her lip, hoping that wasn't as audible as she thought it was.

It was. "May? Are you...crying?"

May slowly turned around. She shook her head, then smiled. The two tear stains running down her face made it a bittersweet expression to look at. "No. Because you gave me a reason to smile. You're right, we will find Latias again. But, until we do...Maybe you and I could talk more. Sort of like we used to."

Dawn scurried to get onto her feet. A sinking feeling was already lodged in her stomach. "May, we still talk..."

"I remember..." May paused to giggle, and to also wipe a couple of the tears out of her eyes. More ended up falling anyway. "I remember back in Sinnoh. You told me you loved me. That I reminded you of your mom. It was accidental, and really awkward at the time..." She gave a shy, reserved smile at Dawn. "But now it's one of the best memories that I carry with me."

She gulped. She might have started crying again herself, but this was all coming too fast for that. "I haven't been all that great of a daughter, have I?"

"You've been an amazing sister to Latias, and that's fantastic."

"May..." Dawn returned the same weak smile that she had just been given. "Don't downplay your emotions. It's okay that you're hurt. I know I would be." For the first time in a span that May didn't know, Dawn walked forward and gave her a tight hug. She didn't move, even when she started talking again. "I've screwed this up pretty badly, haven't I?"

"Dawn, of course you haven't," May answered instantly.

"You're the one that just opened my eyes, May. Looking back on every day that I've been here...I've always favored Latias or Dusk. That's leaving two irreplaceable friends out in the cold...Well, and Brendan."

May laughed as best she could, then leaned her head down so she could kiss Dawn on the top of her head.

Feeling so heavily pampered by a friendly hug and kiss, Dawn closed her eyes. "Sort of in the same manner that I said that about you...Latias and all of her innocence reminds me of my sister."

"And that's wonderful. Please don't-"

"But it's not fair," she cut in. "After all this is said and done, I'm going to need to come to terms with who my father is. Dusk and Latias could never help me get through something like that as well as you could. I picked a horrible time to risk damaging our friendship. I'm sorry..."

May closed her eyes and smiled warmly. Her grip on Dawn tightened just a little bit, too. "Dawn, I haven't changed that much. You still don't need to apologize to me. I'll always, always be here whenever you need me."

"Thanks, May," Dawn responded, her voice now getting a little shaky.

May hummed, softly rubbing her friend's back. "In different news, I talked to Max yesterday..."

It wasn't long until the trio of boys realized that the girls' conversation had turned much less serious. As always, that was a cue to move out. They packed up what little needed to be, then headed straight for Route 103.

The path was generic, even for a route. A long, mostly straight dirt road led halfway down 103. Increasingly-thickening forests were on both sides of them the entire way. Not being one of Hoenn's most famous routes was an asset to them, as they didn't find any other humans on their trek.

Unfortunately, the country itself decided they were going to run into an obstacle bigger than that. Upon walking over a short hill, a glistening pond was easily in sight. With a little help from the perfect angle of the sun, the group could already see a few feet beneath the crystal-clear water, though they continued to approach it anyway.

"That's pretty," Dawn complimented, pushing some hair behind her ear.

Not finding nearly as much amazement in it, Brendan sighed. "I wasn't really looking to be impressed. How are we supposed to get past that thing?"

"Dude," Gold began, "haven't you ever heard that saying? 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'? We're at a lake. Let's make like fish and swim on over!"

Gold took off after the drink, his full intentions set on diving straight in. He wasn't prepared for Brendan to run up behind him and grab the hood on his jacket, which temporarily choked him, along with stopping him. "You can't even see the other side from here, brainwave," the Hoenn resident scolded. "I'd rather walk that desert again than jump in here and hope there's no hungry Pokémon right below me."

The hasty male needed to take a moment to think about Brendan's argument. "Well, that's one way to put a bummer on things. So what're you thinking?"

"...Give me a minute," he responded, releasing his grip on Gold's jacket.

Since those two didn't seem to be helping, Dawn turned to the rest of the team. "Do you have any ideas?"

Umbreon's only answer was a shake of his head. Unusually, his pet didn't verbally respond for him. Wizard seemed preoccupied, standing on his Trainer's shoulder and staring into the open sky.

The remaining female of the group proved to be the most useful. She carefully reached for a Pokéball and held it, sporadically looking at all of her teammates with a modest expression. "We could probably ride Pelipper over...if you wanted to."

Both Sinnoh Trainers smirked, deeming May's idea good, but couldn't say anything before Brendan spun around and looked at his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow. "You, uh, have a Pelipper on hand? When did that happen?"

May faced him near impatiently. "Brendan, yesterday-"

"Three turns o'r the hourglass," Gold interrupted. "Who cares? Let's ride!"

Having Brendan's question "answered" by Gold, May let the Pelipper free from its ball without a word. It was then that everyone, its Trainer included, realized that the plan wasn't as foolproof as first thought.

While rather large for a bird, Pelipper failed to reach even four feet tall. With such a noticeable lack of girth, it would be necessary to fly each human over one at a time.

May began saddling up while her other put his hands on his hips and explained his opinion. "It ain't very efficient, but it's about all we got. I don't think May likes, uh...kicking her Meditite very much, so if you got a better idea that doesn't involve that, I'd speak up now."

Naturally, the only proceeding sound was the water gently being tossed around by the wind.

With the Trainer secured, Pelipper got a few feet off the ground. May looked at the grounded people before the bird took off. "I'll tell Pelipper to come back as fast as he can." After the words were spoken, the Flying- and Water-type took it upon himself to move out.

"Just so we're clear," Brendan started off, not letting any particular emotion into his voice, "to get us all over there could probably take an hour, at least. You good with that, Umbry?"

Dusk was found scratching Wizard's chin. The mouse continued watching the sky, paying no attention to the petting. "If this will eventually take us straight to Petalburg, we have to do whatever it takes." Moving from that topic right to another one, he continued, "Anyway, I need to head back the way we came for a minute. In the meantime, here's a topic idea for you: Getting to Petalburg is necessary, but that's still vague. Try to think of where an organization like that could possibly place their HQ in the middle of a populated city."

No one reacted with anything, so Dusk turned around and did as he said he would.

"Uh...Bye," Dawn said quietly.

Forgetting about that, Brendan turned towards the other direction and looked out over the lake. "Kid's got a point. It doesn't add up. Magma, Aqua...whoever we're dealing with, they're way too big to work in a city like Petalburg without anyone bothering them."

Gold sat down where he was standing and moved his hand into the pond. After feeling how cold it was, he was glad Brendan had stopped him from jumping in. "But all you kids gotta remember something. Where did we get that information in the first place?"

Deciding she should get a word in, Dawn kicked at the grass with her shoe. "From the enemy," she said slowly.

The boy began flicking water with his index finger. "I mean, I really dun wanna say that we're going here for nothing, but...Since taking down that base in the desert, we ain't really seen any of them Aqua and Magma guys. If we're supposedly getting closer to their main base, don't you think it'd be getting harder, not easier?"

Brendan was left to rub his eyes. "I don't know what's giving me a stronger headache. Trying to figure this mess out, or trying to figure out how Gold of all people is using logic like that."

-**OAM**-

Sixty seconds. He wasn't counting, but that was the amount of time that passed.

Once distancing himself from his friends, Dusk and Wizard observed the same sky together for one full minute. After that time period elapsed, the human's mouth opened.

"What are you looking at?"

The rodent didn't reply. That was the only clue that Dusk needed to guess at what his symbiotic brother was thinking.

"Are you looking for Latias?"

Finally, the Pikachu stopped looking at the sky. His head sagged down as he mumbled out a quiet, "Pika."

"Latias..." He paused for a moment, running his words through his mind to make sure they would come out right. "Latias was extremely close to Dawn. Whenever she finishes with whatever she needed to do, she'll come back. That's not the part I'm worried about. Personally, I'm more worried about if she'll make it back in time to help deal with Magma."

"Chuu...pika, piPikachu..." he moaned softly.

"Flying on her was fun, wasn't it?" Since the chin hadn't worked well before, Dusk returned to petting the tried-and-true spot behind the ears. "Things will turn out fine. Name a time that they haven't."

Wizard slumped against his Trainer's head. Between the scratching and the reassuring words, there was a little smile on his face.

-**OAM**-

"Hey, that wasn't so bad. Flygon generally can't even fly that straight."

Brendan had just touched down on the opposite side of the lake. When he got off, Pelipper barely wasted a heartbeat before lifting up and taking off to fetch another crewmate. Two down, and the bird was still as steady as when it had started off.

May, who was sitting on the grass and excited that she now had company, laughed at Brendan's remark. She stood up, however, and tried dusting some of the blades of grass off her clothes. "If Pelipper can keep this up, we'll be able to move on in no time!"

"Yeah. Just remind me to pick up another Flying-type when we make it to the next Center." Brendan quickly glanced back at the bird, but soon returned his gaze. "You know, when I was waiting for that thing, I got thinking of something. There's something you and I haven't done in awhile."

"What-"

May's inquiry was shut down early by Brendan's physical response. He leaned forward to kiss her; she tried pulling away after a moment, but he refused to let her get far. Yet, she didn't particularly mind. When escape became ruled out, she went in the other direction and reached an arm up to hold the back of Brendan's head in place.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. "Brendan, I need air-"

"Too bad." He dove back in and resumed the gesture.

It got a giggle out of her, but once more she broke the kiss off. Getting her request granted this time, she rested her head contently on his chest. "So what did you get thinking about?"

Wrapping his arms around her wasn't his problem. Admitting what was on his mind was. "It's just that I...honestly can't believe it never hit me that you had a Pelipper, you know? Then I got thinking, and I realized that there's a lot of stuff that's happened that you and I haven't really talked to each other about. What's up with that?"

"Brendan, I'm always right here if you want to talk..." May said back, rotating her index finger in a circle around Brendan's chest.

"I dig that. I dig..." Brendan stopped and looked down to better observe the girl he was holding. He almost cringed when he found her shaking. "...Are you crying?"

She sniffled twice, but tried to keep the sound of crying out of her voice. She failed miserably. "I miss you, Brendan."

"A'ight, c'mon, there's no need for the waterworks." He rubbed her back up and down, soothing her enough for her to nod her head and wipe away the threatening tears. "Gold's my homeboy, but when we're surrounded by thirty more goons than we were back on 111, I still wouldn't want anyone else by my side but you. And you don't have to miss me, because he ain't going to keep me from hanging out with you anymore. And I'm sorry that ever happened in the first place."

May sniffled one more time before she gave her boyfriend a tight squeeze. "You're the third person in two days to remind me how important I am to everyone."

"I should have been the first," Brendan carefully fit in. He continued thinking about the situation for a moment more before deciding to add on to it. "Besides, if Coronet was anything to go by, you do tend to forget a lot of stuff, so if we-"

The one thing that stopped his sentence was May's hand slapping his cheek. "Brendan!"

-**OAM**-

Time continued, and the Hoenn Trainers slowly got more and more company. It was 10:06 when Team Missile and its affiliate were ready to press on.

They reached a town known as Oldale, which was soon dubbed boring by Gold. Without having any need to stop, they ignored the small village and headed west.

"Welcome to Route 102," Brendan greeted, glancing around at the scenery. "It's home to many Zigzagoon and Poochyena. Also of note is that it connects Oldale to Petalburg, a city most famous for hiding a Pokémafia organization bent on eliminating any traces of water for the sake of ruling a completely barren world."

"Inviting," Dusk responded.

Gold threw his hands behind his head. "He's the one that sold Hoenn to me."

"What's a Zigzagoon look like?" Dawn wondered. "Its name sounds familiar to me for some reason..."

May took the opportunity to answer her friend's question, but the description couldn't get far before the team's mascot grabbed everyone's attention. Having been peaceably draped on Dusk's shoulder, it wasn't expected when Wizard suddenly leaped on top of his Trainer's beret.

Once more, his observant eyes launched up to the sky. His ears also stayed at total attention, even twitching the slightest bit when he heard something. "Pi...ka."

Dusk stopped walking. Though he understood it, he didn't want to repeat that in the human tongue. "Are you sure?"

"Uh. How about a translation?" Brendan asked.

He got a rough estimate of what the Pikachu had said, but it didn't come from Dusk. Instead, footsteps could be heard creeping up from behind them. Nearly everyone was quick to turn to the sound, especially when the female voice spoke. "Oh, I could take a shot. It probably found me out. Am I close?"

Brendan was one who didn't turn immediately. He didn't want to -he recognized that voice- but he finally forced himself to spin around, anyway. When he did, he clenched his fist. "Well, Gold. You wanted her."

Having changed his mind since he said that, Gold replied only with a sharp growl.

May was left to quietly wonder why her friends were glaring so heavily at the sudden arrival. She was wearing a Team Aqua uniform, but the Hoenn Trainer didn't recognize her personally.

"Like my hair?" the familiar woman asked, running a hand through her shoulder-length blond locks. "I cut it since the last time we met."

"Go take a jump, Alexia," suggested a serious Brendan. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with you, so I recommend that you call in all your cronies before we steamroll over you right now."

The Team Aqua Admin put her hands on her exposed hips; her blue- and white-striped shirt didn't cover much more than it needed to. "For your information, I don't even have any 'cronies' with me today. I do have help, but I guess she's not here yet. Why don't we bide some time until she shows up?" she inquired seductively, lifting a Pokéball up.

"Ooh!" Gold raised his arm into the air. "Tag me, bro!"

"Nahh...Let's blow her away with some nostalgia." Brendan looked at the crew and pointed out one in particular. "Hey, Liz. Ready to roll?"

Remembering that nickname from the first time she was in Petalburg, Dawn started running forward, trying to suppress laughing. Three curious stares slowed her down a bit.

"Um...'Liz'?" May asked innocently.

"You and your double battles, Brendan," Alexia announced, stopping Dawn's need to explain her nickname. "Tell me, won't we ever have some time alone together?"

"Did I ever tell you that you remind me of a certain Gym Leader I know?" Brendan shot back, twirling a Pokéball in his hand as Dawn stepped next to him.

"Oh?" Alexia became intrigued by that. "The cute Roxanne? The graceful Winona?"

"No, not quite." Brendan let go of the item he was holding, causing it to snap open and reveal the creature inside. A smile instantly appeared on Dawn's face.

"You hurt everybody, May! You hurt everybody!" the colorful bird squawked.

Despite the situation, May couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm glad it still remembers that line."

As Chatot flew up and landed on Brendan's shoulder, he folded his arms and smirked. "Here's a hint: they had this Pokémon. Guess right and you win a prize!"

"Win a prize, win a prize!" Chatot echoed. "Win a dinky thing!"

Dawn knew that she was playing second fiddle to the audience-pleasing Chatot, but decided to release her first Pokémon anyway. Ionu popped out of the ball she had been in since yesterday, shook her head, and tried to orient herself. She wanted to scream at Dawn for leaving her inside that sphere for so long, but knew that a battle was looming. That could wait until after.

"That bird will be much more adorable when I shut it up. Walrein, and Kirlia! Attack!" Alexia sent in her own two Pokémon. The familiar Walrein plopped itself on the ground as it did last time. Rather than a Dark-type bird to compliment it, however, this time a Psychic-type was its partner.

"Ah, trying something new, are we?" Brendan lightly nudged the Chatot on his shoulder, which was enough to convince it into the battlefield again.

"All to impress you, Brendan," she replied with a wink. "Walrein, use Aqua Ring. Kirlia, use Rain Dance."

"Hey...we sure that this is Alexia, right?" Gold wondered. "Since when does she waste time setting up anything?"

Brendan also noted that, but didn't deem it important enough to dwell on. "Let's move, Chatot! Hyper Voice!"

His teammate continued with his strategy, ordering her Torchic to attack with Peck.

The Hyper Voice was used against Kirlia, while Peck targeted Walrein. Both attacks hit, but neither was fast enough. Before Chatot's move connected, heavy clouds rolled into the sky; by the time Ionu made it to the over-sized seal, there was already a continuous circle of water hovering above it.

"If I could take a moment to say so, that was pathetic," Alexia mocked, frowning. "Don't tell me you were picking roses while I was refining a battle strategy?"

Once more, Brendan's fist clamped shut. "They were daisies, I'll have you know. New tactic, Chatot! Use Mirror Move!"

The battle continued raging, but Wizard was quick to lose interest. He again sensed that they weren't truly alone. Something was in the sky, and until it left, the mouse wouldn't feel comfortable.

May decided to care for Wizard's paranoia this time. She slowly took him from his perch, which Umbreon didn't object to. He was hugged to her stomach before she whispered, "What's wrong? You've been awfully alert all day..."

He didn't answer. His eyes had already turned back up again.

"...Fire Spin, Ionu! And be more careful this time!"

Both Brendan and Dawn's Pokémon were showing signs of fatigue. Kirlia wasn't holding up well either, but inside of its rejuvenating liquid, Walrein barely seemed scratched.

At the worst possible time for the girl who had just called an attack, two small raindrops were quickly followed by an intense downpour. The Fire-type attack was half fizzled out by the time it reached Kirlia, who took the attack without flinching.

"And we're standing in the rain. Again." Brendan heaved a sigh, already lacking a section of clothing that wasn't soaked by the slightly delayed Rain Dance. "Whatever. Try a Wing Attack, Chatot!"

The parrot squawked as it flew in for a direct attack.

When he was halfway across the field, a white-blue orb materialized from the sky, a dozen feet above the ground. Chatot hardly saw the move before it got hurled in his direction. Unable to properly react, he got blown away, landing on the ground in a heap with smoke coming out of it.

"...And she's here!" Alexia proclaimed with a grin.

Brendan took a single step towards Chatot to see if he was even living. He stopped in his tracks when the corner of his eye noticed that the Pokémon that had shot the attack uncloaked itself.

Floating where it had just defended Alexia from, a red- and white-colored dragon stared all the way down at the group of humans and Pokémon. There was no emotion running through it; neither remorse for injuring the creature, nor pride for it. That went on to show in its face, which could be considered frightening by the amount of seriousness it held. It didn't even show signs of caring as the rain constantly pummeled it.

May gasped. Wizard was more in-synch with his Trainer, who lowered the brim of his beret and chose to remain quiet. Gold just didn't really get what was going on.

On the battlefield, Brendan's mind completely crashed. He froze where he was standing, eyes nearly double their usual size. Dawn took the hardest swallow of her life. With tears threatening to break loose for the second time today, she nervously lifted her arm towards the dragon, as if she wanted to touch it.

"Latias...?"


	22. It Pours

Brendan defrosted his mentally-frozen state. He needed to for the sake of spinning around to the team on the sidelines. "Gold, we are freaking screwed unless you're going to whip out a Dragon-type for us."

Gold grabbed his baseball cap and reached inside of it. When his hand came out holding air, he sighed. "No rabbit."

The male Hoenn Trainer secured his frown. He turned around and looked all the way up to who was once a crucial part of their team. "Petalburg's closest," he stated. "Run to the Center and take Flygon from my storage. _Now._"

"Uh, right! Yeah, on it." Glad that he was finally a useful part of the battle, Gold used his impressive agility to dart towards the Petalburg Pokémon Center.

Since she heard every word of their plan, Alexia couldn't stop from laughing. "Enjoy your run now, dear. Take your time." Her grin continued to get more devilish when Latias lowered herself down, now hovering directly next to the Aqua admin. "But what are you going to do in the meantime, I wonder...?"

Dawn was the first to answer that. "May...Take my place."

May was still getting over the shock of seeing one of her friends so suddenly appear on the opposite side of the warzone. That caused there to be a delay between the request and the response. "What? Oh, but..."

She didn't finish. The blue-haired girl moved a few feet to the side. On her way, she recalled Ionu and replaced her with Starlight.

Alexia gave a "hmph" when the familiar Absol appeared, but nobody paid mind to it.

As soon as May ran forward to take Dawn's spot, Dusk made his way next to Dawn. Wizard hopped out of May's hold for the sake of standing by his Trainer.

"Dawn, are you sure about this?" Dusk asked firmly. His brain was scrambling to analyze the situation, which convinced him to continue on, "A lot of things could go wrong here. What if this isn't even the Latias we know?"

Her head lowered in response. "I asked myself that when I first heard that 'you' killed someone. But there was still a little voice in my head, thinking that maybe, just maybe...what if it is? I guess I'm not that good at identifying my own friends..." She blinked her eyes in the vain hope the situation would be different when she opened them. No such luck. "This time, though, I really do think that this is her."

Brendan was listening to the conversation. Now was as good a time as any to give his two cents. "That's your heart telling you that you miss Latias, Dawn," he tried explaining. "That doesn't mean that this is the same one."

Alexia covered her mouth with her hand. "You were friends with a Latias? Why, I didn't even know!" It was sarcasm, which was easily identified by her inability to stop from laughing after saying it.

"Something happened..." Dawn told the team quietly. She leaned against Dusk, but kept her eyes on Latias. She wished the rain would stop so her eyebrows wouldn't keep dripping water into her vision so often. "She wouldn't join them unless something happened."

"Then let's get her to talk. Wizard." Wrapping one arm around Dawn, he nodded towards the battlefield. Wizard saw the motion and raced to be next to Starlight. "Let's roll."

"You two are officially idiots," Brendan declared, finally returning Chatot to his Pokéball. Deciding it hasn't gotten enough air time, Azumarill was sent in next.

"I know," Umbreon truthfully answered back, glancing at Brendan out of the corner of his eye. "But I'm her friend. I'm staying in her corner."

"Yeah, yeah," he snapped back, recognizing that line. "If nothing else, just keep her busy until Gold gets back."

"Starlight, use Night Slash! But...please be careful."

Listening to her Trainer, Starlight tore off, disregarding the Pikachu near her when it asked if she wanted to do a cooperative attack somehow. Latias was hovering low enough to be reached in a leap, which was all the convincing the Absol needed to try.

The moment her foe became airborne, Latias dodged to the side, causing a miss. Rather than counterattacking Starlight, the dragon blasted forward, ramming into Wizard before he could evade.

"Cheap shot!" the mouse's Trainer complained. "Wizard, Thunderbolt!"

Wizard had needed to suffer through worse than that. He effortlessly hopped to his feet and let loose with a lightning bolt.

The otherwise-futile attack to try against a dragon was made somewhat more effective since she was soaked in all the rain. She was stunned by the charge for a second, but quickly regained her senses and attacked the electric mouse again with a Dragon Pulse.

That also made contact. Wizard took the blow better than Chatot did, but when it was time to rise to his feet again, he was much slower than he was the first time around.

Lucky for him, he had a very angry partner that didn't appreciate being ignored. Starlight tried a second Night Slash, but she was once more dodged without much thought. After landing, the Absol gave a visible snarl. "Sol!" she sneered.

Dawn remembered her promise from the other day. Now wasn't a favorable time for an anger management exercise, but if something wasn't done, Starlight was going to lose control. "Starlight, please don't get mad! Stay calm! You-Wait!"

Going from obediently listening to utterly ignoring her master's commands, Starlight attempted a flurry of moves that she knows, including Quick Attack, Razor Wind, and Bite, all one right next to the other. Any of the onslaught that connected was a grazing blow, which didn't even injure Latias. However, it also failed to help Starlight's rage cease.

Though busy with her own troubles, May couldn't help but notice the action going on directly next to her. She watched Team Magma's Absol mercilessly attempt to tear into the legendary dragon. After a close miss, she let go of a breath of air she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Brendan, is it wrong that I'm hoping just a little bit that Latias knocks Starlight out?"

Brendan wasn't smiling as his own eyes crawled over to the other battle for a moment. "Considering that Latias probably won't have her head attached to her neck if that thing gets a hold of her, I don't blame you much."

"Dawn..." she said quietly.

Her partner was about to give Azumarill an order when a thought hit him. He snapped his fingers and looked back over at his other pals. "Hey, bro! Just had a brainstorm! Paralyze her!"

Dusk was grateful for the advice, but curious of its roots. "What?"

"We learned the hard way that she hates being paralyzed," he taught. "If the Wiz doesn't know Thunder Wave, try nailing her with a good Thunder or something."

May bit her lip. Having been the one to witness just how scared Latias was after getting inflicted with that condition, the thought of her own friend doing it hurt. Nonetheless, it was important for everyone's well-being, so she forced her mouth to stay shut.

"Works for me. You heard the plan, Wizard," Dusk stated, returning to his battle. "Don't give her anything but your best."

"Pi ka," he nodded, sparks already discharging from his cheeks.

Latias attempted to break Wizard's concentration by bashing into him again, but the only thing she succeeded in doing was making herself an easier target. Bandana-clad, tired, and panged with a bit of guilt, the rodent launched a devastating electric strike moments before he got run over.

She veered off course and crashed into the ground, which was now mostly mud. Making Dusk and Brendan smirk, the familiar sparks indicating paralyses emitted from all of her body. The females, while partially glad that the plan worked so easily, didn't feel as though it was such a victory.

Things took a turn for the worse when Starlight came ripping towards the helpless enemy.

"Starlight, stop," Dawn ordered.

It succeeded only in wasting her breath. When Starlight was within distance, she leapt into the air and was ready to finally land a Night Slash.

She was abruptly stopped when a red beam of light nabbed her in the face, transporting her inside a Pokéball. Dawn, confused at her own Pokémon's actions, merely looked at the Magma Ball in her hand without saying a word.

"Ugh...Useless- Walrein, Waterfall! Parasect, use X-Scissor!" While her Pokémon carried out the orders, Alexia ran over to Latias. She reached behind her back and somehow pulled out a Full Heal. After jamming the needle into Latias, she waited for a reaction.

One came, but the Aqua Admin didn't like it. As soon as she was able to move her own body, Latias transformed into her favorite human form. She hopped off the ground and hid behind Alexia.

This time, Dawn and May reacted with a smile as they watched the bittersweet scene. That proved that this was their Latias, even if it was unusual to see Alexia be her first choice to hide behind.

"Wh-what the- Stupid dragon! Get back out there and fight! Or would you rather me report this behavior to the boss?" Alexia screamed, glowering at Latias.

The girl, in her temporary human form, slowly crept out from behind Alexia. It was clear to all of Team Missile that she was visibly shaking and looked to be on the borderline of crying.

"Somehow, I expected much more from you than a total shut-down due to one attack," her "Trainer" scolded, pushing the girl.

Not considering that it'd be a good idea to put up a resistance in time, Latias was shoved to the ground. Her eyes locked tight as she tried and failed to hold back fear.

"Don't do that to her!" her best friend shouted, just now breaking out of Dusk's hold. "She hates being Paralyzed like that!"

Alexia brushed a hand through her hair and started walking back to her own battle position. "Hmph. She's some twenty-two-thousand year-old dragon. She should be used to it."

"For your information, _Alexia,_ she's five-years-old and hates fighting!" Dawn barked back.

"Catfight. Meow," Brendan purred.

The comments earned him a quick glare by May, but nothing else.

"Well, for your information, _Liz,_ I don't really care about you giving me a history lesson of something that you should be dreading right now." She reached her normal spot and stopped walking. "Your precious little friend is on my side, and she could eat you alive if she wanted."

No one made any moves. Wizard was still exhausted from his last electrical outburst, while Latias stayed in her human form on the ground, occasionally looking between Alexia and Dawn. The four Pokémon participating in the other battle were at a standstill as well.

The only sound made was the rain crashing against all the different surfaces.

"It's quiet," May noted, perhaps needlessly.

Brendan replied in a quiet tone of his own, "I think everybody's...sorta waiting for Latias. If she runs, Alexia sure ain't staying around for long."

"_Latias, please run..._" May silently begged.

"Latias..."

At the sound of her voice, Latias instantly shifted her sight to Dawn. She was met by a girl with hair glued to her face by rainwater; hidden behind that hair was an expression laced with confusion.

"I...I'm not going to ask you why you did what you did," she continued. "You're one of my best friends, and I know you have a reason for it. But, I was wondering if...I could ask you to play that ocarina. Remember the one that I bought for you?"

Her lookalike gulped, but didn't grant her request. She wasn't even in her human form long enough to do so. She quickly changed back into her natural dragon body, but instead of charging ahead, she nervously flew backwards.

This caused the size of Alexia's eyes to grow in anger. "Don't you dare-"

Despite any potential threat, Latias turned tail. She used her previously-unmentioned ability to cloak herself with down to disappear from sight, before vanishing from the battlefield entirely.

All the heroes fell silent. Somehow, that helped distinguish some of Alexia's anger. "It's a shame that you'll never get to hear her play that instrument. If the boss doesn't eliminate her, I will."

Alexia recalled her two active Pokémon and gave her backside to the team. Using agility that's close to rivaling Gold's, she bolted for Oldale Town, but ended up disappearing into a drenched forest first.

After a moment of staring at the now-abandoned battlefield, Brendan's shoulders sagged a bit. "One of these days, we really got to stop her from running off like that."

May recalled Blaziken, the Pokémon she had been relying on, and sprinted over to where Dawn stood. By this time, Wizard had already skipped back to Dusk and made himself comfortable on his shoulder. "Dawn, why did you ask Latias that?"

"I've just...never actually heard her play it," she responded back slowly.

The older of the women set her hand on Dawn's shoulder. "I have. Believe me, she plays it beautifully."

Dusk rubbed the back of his Pikachu's head, no doubt being a gesture of thanks for virtually solving their otherwise dangerous dilemma single-handed. "Since we're apparently done here, let's keep moving. This rain doesn't do very much for me. Besides, I know someone who will smell like a wet rat after this."

"Pika, chu," Wizard commented, his Trainer starting to make his way towards Petalburg.

"Oh, yeah, you too. I was thinking of somebody else."

Brendan clenched his fist. "That was a shot at me, wasn't it? Oh, ha-ha."

As he began storming off after the leader, he was pulled aside by Dawn. "Brendan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"As long as I don't _smell_ too bad," he snapped back. It earned him a giggle out of the passing May, who continued working her way up to Dusk so the other two could be alone.

Once there was enough distance between the pairs of Trainers, the much calmer Brendan tugged on his headband. "What's up?"

His smile quickly faded when he looked over and saw Dawn holding a certain Pokéball up. Her eyes seemed to be magnetized to it. "Berlitz and Sunnite...even Charmy...I've been a bad Trainer and friend to all of them. I wanted to prove to everyone so badly that Starlight can be treated with the same love as any other Pokémon I have. You've heard me preach about that."

Brendan kept his gaze on the wet path beneath his feet, remaining silent.

"Brendan, I need to hear the truth, even if that means needing to cash a reality check." The grip on the ball tightened. "Do I underestimate these...these 'Magma Balls'? ...Is there even a chance?"

"She got a little out of your control earlier, didn't she?" he asked, partially wanting to avoid answering her question for as long as possible.

"I've never been so scared that my own attack would hit in my life," she forced herself to say for the sake of honesty. "Starlight just...went nuts. It was like she didn't even recognize Latias as a friend."

Unable to think of anything comforting to say, Brendan returned to silence.

"If there's even a chance that I'll ever be able to control her, I'll devote every hour I'm awake to it. But if I can't, what will she do to my friends?" Her arm lowered, as did her hope. "What'll she do to me?"

To break up the dramatic tension between the two in the back, Dusk turned around and walked backwards. A thought had come to his mind. "Hey, Brendan...What's Gold doing?"

-**OAM**-

"Uhh...Right. Password is, um...'bandanablade.' Uh...Wait, were there numbers after it? What's his birthday? Uh..."

Gold was sitting in front of the Petalburg City Pokémon Center computer, a tool that all Trainers used to conveniently store their captured creatures. Since it needed to protect the identity of millions of Trainers, a simple password system had been invented.

That's where Gold got stuck.

"I dunno. He sure likes that Metagross. Maybe like, uh...'metametaboomboom.' ...Oh. Guess not."

Happily breaking up his frustration for him, Gold got bothered by a one-foot-tall talking cat. It casually stepped up beside him, hands behind the back, and looked normal enough for Gold not to say anything about it. "Excuse me, chum. Are you looking to hack into someone's account?"

"Yeah!" he said, not thinking too much about his words. "This dude's got some dynamite Pokémon in here. He gave me his password for any emergencies or anything, but I'm drawing a total blank."

Rather than the feline, a female voice from behind Gold spoke up. He spun around in the swivel chair when she did. "If evil's what you desire, at it, we're the best."

"Though one look at our clothes and you'd be able to guess!" a male complimented her.

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"Bein' evil's the best!" the cat pitched in.

"Hijacking computers at a breakneck-"

The red-haired woman was overruled by the only sound that Gold could make right now: laughter.

"D-don't laugh at us!" she woofed.

"At you?" Gold wiped some tears out of his eyes. "Naw way, dudes! I don't got a clue what you're doing, but it's awesome! Can I be in it?"

Now standing next to each other, the two humans and the cat exchanged glances.

-**OAM**-

In spite of the turbulence that Alexia and her unappreciated partner caused, the quintuplet group conquered the remaining portion of the route and for the second time found themselves in Petalburg City. And even though it meant trouble for them in some ways, they all stopped walking and smiled at the sight in front of them.

If not every Petalburg resident was outside, working to restore every single building that had been destroyed before, it must have been close. The rain, which persistently continued to come down in sheets, didn't seem to deter them at all. Those who weren't savvy in the art of home building made sure that those who were constantly had a drink of water to turn around to. Even if it was merely supervising, everyone was a capable of doing one job or another.

"That's amazing," Dawn commented, looking towards a spot that she recalled a home being burned down at. Almost all of the entire outer frame was finished, and people were still working on it.

"Petalburg ain't the biggest joint out there," said a Brendan who was proud of his birth city, "which means that everyone's pretty dang close. If one goes down, the rest feel it, you know? Combine that with everyone here being problem solvers, and you could call this scene inevitable."

As his foreign friends watched the united people, Brendan turned to May and lightly shot a small object at her. A key ring; attached to it were two keys of slightly different sizes and shapes. "Get our counterparts to the Gym. We'll figure out some strategy there."

"What are you...?"

He swept his hand through his hair. "I'ma go see where Gold got lost."

May took a careful look at the gift, then nodded her head. Knowing he was slightly bending the promise he had made to her just earlier in the day, Brendan gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek before jogging in the direction of the Pokémon Center.

"Who says that we're _your_ counterparts?" Dawn asked with a smirk. "Maybe you're ours."

Though the team desperately needed it after a day like they've had so far, Dusk ignored the lighthearted remark and blocked any possible response to it by talking first. "There's an obvious problem here. The Gym is almost on the other side of town, and I still don't know if I'll get jumped when one person sees me. May, are there any back roads we could take?"

"Well, there is, but..." She raised a fist to her chest and looked in a direction, presumably towards the alleged back road. "It might not really be much less active than anywhere else. I know that there were attacked houses back there, too."

Dusk dipped the brim of his hat a bit, turning to look at the Gym. There was quite a distance between the building and where the Trainer stood, but the sheer size of it still made it plain to see. "Then...We run."

-**OAM**-

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center! Would you like us to heal your Pokémon?"

To Brendan's surprise, the nurse didn't recognize him as one of Dusk's infamous partners-in-crime as soon as he walked in the door. Not that he was intending to complain about it.

He remembered how totaled Chatot had gotten, but without knowing the next time he'd be out in public, didn't want to leave one of his Pokémon with the nurse. He decided that he could heal the bird with his own medicine, though that didn't stop him from walking up to the counter. "Nah. I'm actually looking for my idiot of a friend. 'Bout my height, dark hair, baseball cap, red shirt. He was supposed to come here, but I don't got a clue where he went. Any ideas?"

The nurse, who failed to look a skin pore different from any previous nurse he had come across, dropped her smile. Her eyes shifted off towards her left, where the video phones and Trainer computers were lined up. "Someone like that came in awhile ago. He was using the computer, but two unusual humans and a Meowth interrupted him, and they've been quiet over there since..."

"And a Meowth...Really." The Coordinator carefully lined his gaze up with the nurse's. "Thanks."

He didn't waste much time leaving the doctor to check out the situation she had described.

A cat. He took a hard swallow. He needed to set aside his fear -and the memory that gave it to him-, grab Gold, and get back to the Gym. It sounded simple.

Before he could get very far, a voice that he instantly recognized as his unrelated brother called out from behind a wall dividing the telephones. "Listen, is that a hero coming near?"

"It must be, since we're here," a male and female said in unison from somewhere close to Gold.

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"Up your nose!" Gold continued.

A fourth voice, bearing a familiar Brooklyn accent, chimed in last. "And in your ear!"

All four broke out from their hiding spot. Having donned a white Team Rocket uniform, Gold rolled into a squat, positioning himself between the duo of humans who remained standing. In front of Gold was the Meowth, who was in the same ducking formation that the "newest" Rocket member was.

"Raining down chaos at a break neck pace," the woman began, letting Gold finish.

"Lookit me, I'm freakin' ace!"

The older man brushed a hand through his bangs. "When everything's worse, our work is complete."

Gold was doing his best not to laugh. He succeeded at that, but failed at blocking a large grin. "And when we're all done, you can smell my feet!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Meowth!"

"And me!"

Jessie folded her arms. "Making any do-gooder chill..."

"Team Rocket..."

The Johto native stood back up so he was in the center. Meowth did a back flip to get a little closer to his crew while they all repeated in unison, "We're up in your grill!"

Moments passed, and if a door was open, a howling wind would have crept its way inside for the sake of making noise in the dead silent hospital. Once realizing they were finished, however, the nurse happily began clapping for the performance.

"Thank you!" Gold shouted without modesty.

There was a reason Brendan didn't respond or interrupt the motto. His face was already buried in his glove. "Golllddd..."

"Huh?"

He removed his hand solely to glare at his friend. "In case you can't remember, we were threatened by a freaking Uber."

"...Uh-huh..." the other boy prodded, clueless.

"I trusted you to run back here and find a Pokémon that we could take it down with."

"Yup!"

"Instead, you decided that it'd be much smarter to waste twenty minutes and potentially the lives of all of your friends for the sake of working on _that_," he finished sternly.

"Dude..." Gold rubbed the letter "R" that was on his shirt. "You saw this material, right? Free new duds!"

"Ughh..." Brendan rubbed his eyes one last time. "Gold, that's _Team Rocket._ They're bad guys."

"...Oh." Though Gold was looking between the Team Rocket trio and his friend, it didn't appear to Brendan that he knew what he was supposed to be thinking about. To quench some of the Coordinator's irritation, the other grabbed a Pokéball and started walking away from his previous allies. "I get to keep the shirt, right?"

"W-wait!" Meowth flinched. "But youse said-"

"Quiet, Meowth," Jessie interrupted, "This is all going according to my great plan."

James rubbed the back of his head. He gave his human partner an unsure, but intrigued look. "But you don't have a plan."

"Shush! Of course I do! And right now, it involves a tactical retreat. You twerps will pay for this!"

Team Rocket's mascot, taking something like an initiative, began the charge. He galloped toward Brendan and Gold, then leaped. He flew into the small space between them, harming no one, but causing a decent distraction. The Hoenn Trainer made a noticeable wince before he could stop himself.

By the time he recovered, all three enemies had slipped by him and were rushing out the door.

Gold set an arm on his friend's shoulder. For a moment, Brendan thought that his moment of weakness had been spotted. Then Gold opened his mouth. "Dude, just admit it. For being kinda thrown together, that was a pretty dope performance."

Brendan growled, "Let's just get to the Gym already."


	23. A Problem Solved

To say that the three quarters of Team Missile's humans were exhausted by the time they slammed the door of the Petalburg Gym wouldn't be far from the truth. Dawn rested on the door that she had just shut, while Dusk took his soaking beret off and rubbed his forehead, which was doused in a mix of rain and sweat.

"You'd think-" Dawn started but paused, needing to pant, "-running down all of Mount Coronet would have done us something."

"You'd...think. We'll blame it on the rain," Dusk replied, also out of breath.

"Pika pi."

Dusk turned his attention to his other buddy. "I can only imagine how difficult it was for you to hang on while I ran the whole way."

"Chaa," was the comeback with feigned fatigue.

The second female lifted the keys up that her boyfriend had given her. She watched them intently for a moment before voicing her thoughts. "It's not like Brendan to forget to lock a place up, especially the Gym. I wonder if his parents are back?"

At that moment, muffled laughing could be heard from inside the same room the team had used before. A curious glance by all initiated the cue to inspect.

With a semi-alarmed state of mind, May cautiously pushed the dividing door open, revealing the dining room in the same pristine condition that it was in before. Two humans occupied the room, but they weren't either of May's guesses.

"Max!"

The vertically-challenged sixteen-year-old scrambled from the seat he was in to dash over to his sister. He wasn't nervous at all to hug her while in the intruding gazes of friends. "May! I'm glad you're here!"

"I'm glad you're here, too..." She left the embrace and knelt down on a knee, only to look back up at him. "But I'm curious why you are."

Dawn and Dusk slipped past the two. They looked around the almost-otherwise-empty room and found someone they didn't expect to see; leaning against a wall on the right-hand side of the building was a familiar Sinnoh Gym Leader. Once eye contact was made, he gave the pair of Trainers a two-fingered salute.

"Roark tracked me down," Max answered. "He said that you asked him to meet you here and then asked me if I wanted to come, too. So, why not?"

May grew a smirk. "You haven't changed much at all, Max. Do you know that?"

While satisfied with the story, Dawn knew that a piece still wasn't connecting. Prepared to accuse, she faced Roark's direction. "Roark, May didn't need to use her keys. Did you _break_ into the Gym?"

Without even looking at her, Roark lifted up his glasses and responded, "Be thankful that's the worst I've done."

Dusk decided to tackle a different problem. "May...You invited Roark here?"

Still on a single knee, May's gaze hit the floor. Once he realized she wasn't going to respond, Roark looked over at Dusk with a grin. "What? Is it really that weird that May and I could be best buds?"

"Considering she's probably the one that got pissed off at you the most back in Sinnoh, I wouldn't call it expected..." Despite his words, Dusk dropped the conversation and headed towards a chair.

Once she saw just how relieving it was to Umbreon to sit down for the first time today, Dawn hastily took a seat next to him.

"Touché," the Gym Leader answered back coolly.

"But..." Max finally continued, gaining the attention of his sister again. "Roark didn't tell me much about what was going on."

The hint was dropped and time was spent retelling the important details. In fact, time got away on them; when Dusk next looked at his Pokétch, the time was 16:15. The subconscious concern over his two male teammates was cured when the front door of the Gym sprung open, proceeded shortly by the sounds of their two voices.

"About time," Roark commented.

The second door opened, allowing Brendan and Gold into the room. Somehow, the first thing Brendan saw was his rival. "...Aw, no. Just, no way."

"Stuck on you like piranhas at a butcher shop," Roark cheerfully noted, shooting at Brendan with an invisible gun.

Though Roark had remained standing, the Hoenn Trainer noticed that everyone else was seated around the table. When his eyes locked with Max's, he quickly ran over and put a hand on the boy's head. "My man! How's the weather down there?"

A clear growl emitted from Max's throat. "Shut up!"

The glove was removed from the child's noggin and placed instead on Brendan's hip. "If you're looking to get beat down again, I'll be happy to oblige a little later on."

"Speaking of the weather, Brendan..." May started softly, looking over her chosen partner. "You're drenched. It's still raining out there?"

"Aye. Coming down in sheets out there. I think it actually got worse." He managed to get a seat next to May, with no one on the other side of him. "Now will anybody tell me why Roark's back here?"

More time elapsing was inevitable. Forty-five precious minutes ticked away with some lighthearted topics such as introducing Gold to Max. However, it wasn't very long before they settled on the depressing problem that is not knowing where to go from here.

Upon being reminded that he was the captain of the ship, Dusk rubbed his eyes. "It was a shaky source that told us about Petalburg in the first place. At the same time, not only did we go through quite a bit to get here, but even if we didn't believe them, we don't have any other leads. The moment we take a step out of this town, we'd be flying blind. We owe it to ourselves to at least look around the Town first."

"Which reminds me, uh...Umbry." Roark unequipped his minor's helmet and polished the light that was on it. "Last I heard, the impressive little show you put on with your double put a pretty good twist on your name. That might help your field trip. Which goes on to remind me..." He wagged his finger through the air, as if counting the people sitting at the table. "Where's Dawn's lovely double?"

The mention of the ally was alone enough to get Dawn to heave a mildly depressed sigh. Before any response could be made, however, everyone was abruptly interrupted by a ring tone.

Recognizing it as his, Gold whipped his Pokénav out and glanced at the LCD screen. "Check it out!" He received the call, then held the phone out, allowing everyone in the room to hear the conversation. "Silv! What's baking?"

"I'm doing something," was the predictably cold reply. "Right now, I'm much more interested in what you're doing. Did you figure out where Magma's main base is?"

"Naw, man. But dig it! We got, like, twenty heads right here trying to figure it out. I know we got it! It's on the tip of one of our brains, that's for sure!"

"Make sure you 'get it' by tonight," Silver demanded. "I'll be there with friends at 11:30 tonight. I don't want to be kept waiting."

The line got disconnected, letting Brendan get in the obvious joke. "...He's got friends?"

"Dunno," Gold replied, tucking the machine away. "All I know is that we got six and a half hours to find oil. When that guy gives a time, you can set your watch by it."

Roark put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Oil? By the sounds of it, we don't even know where any barrels are, much less oil."

Rather than chunks of the hour slipping by, it was only two minutes into the next discussion when a different sound startled the group. Mother Nature clashed cymbals, creating a rumble of thunder suitable for the persistently wet conditions outside. This affected one team member more than the others.

Dawn pushed her chair back, giving herself enough space to get out of it. "H-hey, Dusk, could you come with me for a second?"

The boy was silent as he also got off of his seat. The two walked over to the exit together, Umbreon opening the door for his friend and shutting it once both had walked through.

Before he could even get a word out, Dawn had already headed for another room, this one being directly on Dusk's right. He recognized it as the room that Latias, disguised as Dawn, had come out of last time.

Now seeing it for the first time, the leader was able to identify it as a bedroom. An unusual count of four beds were in the quarters, which happened to be nearly double the size of Dusk's own room back home. Aside from those two things, nothing surprising was in the room. Each bed had both a dresser and mirror close to it while some unimpressive carpeting covered the floor. The only illumination in the room was from the window, which was shrouded by raindrops and the gloominess of the day. It was hard to see far out the window, but that didn't stop the girl that was standing in front of it from trying.

"Yay. A storm..." she said, lacking much energy.

Dusk took a few steps into the room. "Don't worry about it. We couldn't leave until the rain let up a little anyway, so-"

"Umbreon...Remember the first and only night I've spent at your house?"

It took a couple seconds to realize what she was getting at, a time period that he stayed quiet in. The memory finally hit him, and the only thing he was grateful for was the calm way that Dawn had asked her question. "...Oh. I did forget about that."

Her back was still turned. She raised her hand up and touched the window's glass with her fingertips. "Something I didn't tell you back then...Phobias are supposed to be irrational fears. Mine...isn't really that irrational."

Dusk never liked when Dawn talked quietly. It meant that something was bothering her much more than she usually cared to let show. For the time being, he decided to take a seat on a nearby bed. "What do you mean?"

"When I was, um...by myself, it stormed. A lot. It always felt like Mother Nature was making fun of me, forcing me through the worst weather without any Pokémon or friends." She stopped talking, a large part of her wanting Umbreon to say something. It was only natural that he didn't, so she pushed herself to finish her short story. "The only reason that I'm scared of thunderstorms is because they bring back so many bad memories."

He chose to stand up and shorten the distance between the both of them. That stopped only when he was by her side. She glanced over at him, but to ensure that she didn't turn her head, Umbreon gently cupped her chin in his hand. "For once all day, I have an idea."

With that, he leaned in and kissed her. She didn't mind the impromptu idea, but the will to ask her question was too strong. She broke the kiss, but didn't retreat far enough to stop feeling Dusk's breath. "What's your idea?"

One more kiss, though this one was just a peck. "To make a better memory for you."

It took a second to register those words, and another second after that to realize just how effective they were. She giggled and initiated one more go at brushing his lips with her own.

When air became required, Dawn hugged Dusk, seamlessly leaping from one embrace to the next. She was happy to let out a few more girly chuckles. "It's working."

-**OAM**-

The bigger hand spun all around the clock yet again, bringing the time to a late 18:00. Dusk and Dawn hadn't come back from the other room, and everyone seated around the table was becoming increasingly anxious and bored. Max had pulled out a small laptop which caught Gold's attention, despite him not having a clue what May's brother was doing on it. It was all too advanced for him, but he gathered that it was some sort of research about Petalburg City. May seemed to be the most patient of the group, simply sitting in her chair and petting an appreciative Wizard.

Brendan's arm was laying on the table, with his head laying on top of that. The room had gone without a word for a long strand of time, leaving Brendan cautious about one thing. "Roark, you're quiet. That scares me."

"Thinking," he replied, his eyes seemingly magnetized to the main door. "That girl keeps disappearing whenever I'm around."

"Weird how a person does that after you point a gun at them and attempt to shoot them, isn't it?" Brendan shot back sarcastically, still without removing his head from the table.

"You know, your own girlfriend was the one who invited me here." Roark's voice held a touch of seriousness that Brendan wasn't used to. "The least you could do is be a little nicer to me than that."

"Like _May_ would do that," Brendan scoffed.

To his shock and dismay, it was the soft voice next to him that spoke next. "...Ever since Mount Coronet, Roark hasn't done anything to hurt us. In fact, he's given us a lot of leads and other information that was really helpful at the time." The woman's gaze was on the Pikachu, who was looking back at her. She was too scared to look anywhere else. "I...think we should give him a chance. It'd be strange to call him a friend, but...I don't think he's our enemy anymore."

Brendan slammed his head on the table. "Gold, tell me. On the way here, did we fall into any warp holes that transported us to some different dimension or something?"

"Nope. That would be totally sweet, though!" was the excited reply.

It was then that yet another, though much more out-of-place sound caught the attention of the team. Through the heavy doors which guarded the Gym, something faint could be heard right outside the entrance to the building. Thankful for something they could explore, everyone scattered over to the door leading out of the dining room. Upon it opening, Dusk and Dawn had already exited from the other room, implying that they too had heard the noise.

Those two, along with Brendan, May, and Wizard, approached the main door.

This opened up the opportunity for Roark to put his hands on his hips and smile. "Whatta team, eh? They even answer doors together."

Fatedly, Dawn was the first in the line, meaning that she was the one carrying the honors of opening the door up. As soon as she did, the problem of what was causing that sound was quickly solved.

Beautiful ocarina music poured in through the open gateway. The only note hit better than the last was the next. Even the sound of the rain seemed to become quieter for the sake of letting the instrument play. In spite of the clear sound coming from the flute, it was only natural that everyone identified the musician.

Dawn, being the most shocked, was the one to verbally report her findings.

"L...Latias?"

The tune wasn't close to being finished, but the blue-haired girl outside the door, one arm bandaged and wearing black clothing, stopped early. She did so in order to give the girl who was inside the building that also fit that description a kiss on the neck, followed shortly by a hug. Her eyes ended up directly on Dawn's shoulder so she wouldn't have to meet the gazes of anyone else.

"I recognize that song," May slowly chimed in. "It was the song that she played for me back at Fallarbor."

"Latias..." Dawn caved in and hugged her friend back. "I'm so glad that I can hold you again. But you understand that I'm scared, don't you? You attacked us, and..." Even though she didn't want it to, her voice drifted away from her. Being able to hold her friend again made words seem much less important.

A nod. The disguised dragon didn't attempt to make any further amends.

Dusk put a hand on Dawn's opposite shoulder. "She doesn't look like she's here to fight to me. Why don't we get into the other room and catch up a little?"

Before Dawn could respond for the both of them, as she used to so often, Latias backed off from the hug. She placed one foot outside, looked off to the side, and prompted somebody to come in.

To the team, not enough time passed to prepare themselves for who was about to step into sight. Once he made it into view of the doorway, a boy underneath a red beret leered off to the side he had entered from.

Dusk's imposter stood next to Latias.

"I've been wrong before," Dusk admitted, taking one step back.

"H-hey, Roark, you still got that gun, right?" Brendan stuttered, following the example of Umbreon and increasing the distance between himself and the notorious murderer.

Roark wasn't able to answer the question either way before Latias hopped in front of 'Dusk,' arms outstretched to the sides and appearing terrified of the idea. She shook her head madly, wanting to discourage the thought.

"Let's...go into the dining room," Dawn said, liking that idea better.

Everyone kept rather cautious as they turned around to head back into the base of operations. Brendan frowned. "No, let me guess, May. You invited them, too?"

May didn't acknowledge it with a response.

They all safely made it into the familiar room. All except Dawn and Latias, the former having pulled the latter aside right before entering.

"Take my body," she told the other quietly. After an unsure look from Latias, Dawn forced a smile. "Prove to them what I think I already know. I trust you, Latias."

It was an odd moment when nearly everyone took seats, only to realize that both Dusks weren't followed by both Dawns. Roark returned to leaning against the side wall, while Umbreon's imposter mimicked the pose on the wall nearest to the door. Yet again, he appeared to be glaring in the wall's direction.

"If it's worth anything to you, Brendy-boy, I do got a gun on me," Roark stated. He didn't get any reply, so he merely shrugged.

A single Dawn returned momentarily. Judging by the amount of care that she took while shutting the door behind her, Dusk came to a quick conclusion. "Latias?"

"...That is correct."

"Wait, wha?" Roark stared in Dawn's direction. "But she can't talk, right? Or was I just out of the story so much, I missed that?"

"Just shut up and pretend you know what's going on," Brendan spat back, not wanting an explanation to be delayed any longer.

Dusk ignored that argument and adjusted his position in the chair. "If you're not sure where to start explaining, try the beginning."

Latias leaned on the door, next to Dusk's lookalike. "The beginning? Very well. It is true that...I left my friends last night. Everyone here. I did that because I was becoming...anxious, and worried. Everyone wanted to destroy the men in the red suits, but there was a different reason for me."

She got away from the door, choosing instead to walk towards the actual Dusk's direction. On his shoulder was Wizard, who she extended her arm to pet. "In the battle only hours ago, I...attacked you much. I'm sorry, Wizard, I just merely...did not want to hurt Dawn's Pokémon."

"But why did you fight us at all?" Dusk wondered, fending off all but a touch of anger in his voice.

"I needed them...to believe me," she answered in a tone she hoped portrayed honesty. "After I was struck by Paralysis, I heard that woman say that she would tell their leader about my actions...and I couldn't allow that to happen. I ran away to where they were holding me, and found what I needed. Why I left everyone yesterday. And then I fleed. And then I came back here. They must be...furious with me."

Being able to keep up with the majority of the story, Max pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "What did you need, Latias?"

Rather than answering, Latias walked back to her original spot. She didn't lean on the door. In fact, she didn't even turn around. "May? ...Umbreon? It was...many days ago, but...do you remember my story? One Latios accepted me when my own family didn't, only to be taken away from me."

May jumped out of her chair. Her mouth was open in awe even before any words came out. "Latias, is that-"

The dragon turned her human head towards her silent friend and nodded. It was only on that cue that a light engulfed the fake Dusk. That shine disappeared, only to leave behind a magnificent blue dragon. Aside from its color and taller structure, it bore many similarities to the legendary dragon everyone had already become accustomed to. The only thing hindering its grand appearance is that it remained adamant in denying anybody eye contact.

The show having caught everyone off-guard, Latias wasn't noticed when her head drooped. "...This is Latios. My savior. And my friend."

She continued to be ignored as everyone but herself stared at Latios with mouths open. Still, she kept talking. "Many things during our adventure helped me figure it out. When we were last in this city, I was able to...sense the person we were tracking, but only some of the time. It was those times that Latios had taken his true form, which I am able to sense much more easily. And when we encountered those familiar men in red suits...It is true that I knew I was to either see my friend again, or die in the process of it. When I heard that their base was to be in this city, I...waited.

"Umbreon, there is...one more thing that you must know." She finally faced the group again. She found them with slightly recovering expressions. "Latios...He did not voluntarily do the things that he did. I do not understand it, but he was under...a spell, or something. They were...attempting to kill him, when they thought to use him as a hostage for me. So I would do what they wanted."

Seconds passed. Latias took that opportunity to don a little smirk. "You all are as silent as I commonly am."

Roark answered Latias's call to hear a sound that didn't come from her own voice box. That sound was in the form of a whistle. "Man, I gotta hang out with you guys more often. You guys get to see _everything._"

"But...I don't..." Dusk couldn't formulate a sentence. He continued to stare at the being that was once his heated rival.

"Dusk, we should worry about the 'how's' and 'why's' later!" scolded a serious Max. "If both of them are on our side now, that means we have more firepower than ever!"

Dawn's head tilted on its side. "Who...are you?"

"I'm Max. I'm May's brother!"

As a reward for the bonus description, May gave her brother a pat on the head.

Latias felt better knowing that the unfamiliar boy was related to her close companion. Bearing a smile, she nodded her head. "As I mentioned, it is only natural that the opposing army...does not appreciate the presence of me or Latios. If we won't get in the way..." She paused here in order to look at her partner. He hadn't stopped staring at the wall, which she somehow accepted as her answer. "...we will assist in any way that we can."

The room fell silent again for a few moments. It was a highly unsure May that broke it this time. "La-Latios? It's...nice to meet the real you! I'm May, and..."

The Coordinator found out the hard way why Latios had been avoiding anyone's gaze. It turned out that being looked at by him is frightening. His eyes instantaneously locked with May's, and the more she continued the sentence, the more of his teeth he revealed. Though May was surrounded by too many friends to feel threatened under the pressure, she didn't feel particularly comfortable, either.

"He...does not like you," Latias stated bluntly. In preparation for her next sentence, her head lowered. "He...does not like anybody. I do not blame him."

Roark stretched his neck. "Being eff'd up by people like that would probably do that to anybody."

It was fairly difficult for the young girl inhabiting Dawn's body to smile, but she managed to pull it off. "That is why I am glad that...I am able to turn to everyone here. You can show him how amazing humans can be, much like how Umbreon showed me back at the mountain Coronet."

"...All right," Dusk finally said, having regained his composure and leadership confidence. "At the risk of a Dragon Claw to my face, we can worry about him later. Latias, the question that we're dying to know: where's Magma's base?"

Latias nodded, as if she was expecting that question to be asked eventually. "I have discovered that those in red suits...they like land, and do not like water. It is true that the base is in this town, but there is only one place they could hide. The most unlikely place for them to build their organization."

Each person was eventually glanced at by someone else. "Anybody got the Jeopardy music?" Roark asked to a quiet crowd.

Once more in curiosity, Latias dipped her head to the side. "...Are you familiar with the lake that is south of this building?"

"Are you serious?" Brendan asked, though somewhat rhetorically.

Gold slammed his hand on the table. "Dude, how were we supposed to get that without a strategy guide?"

"I'm...pretty sure it's the place that you're requesting," Latias nodded, "It rests at the bottom of that lake."

Max found it necessary to push his glasses higher again. "That must mean that they have some efficient way of getting people from the base to the surface and vice versa, right?"

"That is...also correct." A shy smile grew on her. "Your brother is very smart, May."

"Didja hear that, May?" Max instantly gloated.

May folded her arms in retaliation. "Please, don't feed his ego..."

Not fully understanding the meaning of that saying, Latias cleared her throat and resumed her explanation. "Every night at one minute past the...beginning hour, a large elevator rises, allowing many to transport from the seafloor to the ground. A girl that I recognize...one with grey hair...told me that."

"Key," Dusk and Brendan said in unison. Nobody remarked on the synchronized act.

She nodded her head up and down once more, and then looked at Latios. Apart from floating in one spot, he hadn't moved a muscle from the last time she had looked at him. "Dawn...She will...need time to recover. And she would like to know all of this, as well. You all have accepted me back, which I am very grateful for. Please...tell Dawn that I'm sorry I attacked her."

Instead of bolting out of the body immediately, Latias carried herself closer to Umbreon. Knowing the act, the boy was ready to catch Dawn's body as it dropped down on him.

Unsurprisingly, Roark wanted to remark on what was to him a completely random event. It was a surprise for everyone when he didn't even open his mouth.

Dawn regained consciousness the moment that the door opened up and Latias walked through, now in her silent human form. At first, her pounding headache stopped her from being aware of just about anything. When she recollected enough of her senses to realize who she was, the next thing she noticed was that she was safely in the hold of her boyfriend.

Lastly, she turned her head just enough to glance around the room. Everything was fine up until her eyes met with a hovering blue dragon standing next to Latias. "There's going to be a long explanation to this, isn't there?"

Brendan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, Umbry. Why not take Dawn into the side room and let her rest up a bit? We'll need her to be going top speed."

"Right." With hardly an objection by Dawn, Dusk carried the girl's light figure through the open door and disappeared into the same side room they had been in before.

While thinking over everything that just happened, Gold rubbed his finger on the table. "Girl took a big one for the team."

"I wonder how much that actually hurts Dawn..." May added quietly. "She's better at hiding pain than I wish she was."

Whether she was supposed to or not, Latias heard what they were saying. Looking disappointed, her gaze fell to the floor. She limped over to Latios to hug him.

Though she was in her human form, Latios extended his dragon arms around her anyway. He closed his eyes and cooed, producing a comforting sound that was similar to Latias, if not slightly deeper.

Everyone, including the self-proclaimed cold-hearted Roark, smiled at the scene.


	24. That Sinking Feeling

"If this is what a Coordinator feels like before each Contest, I might need to reconsider my occupation."

Half an hour after Dusk had given Dawn the opportunity to rest, the correct assumption had been made that she had fallen straight to sleep. Rather than waking her up, however, it was unanimously decided that she had the right idea - a few hours of rest would go a long way in an all-night slugfest with Team Magma. Using the many available beds, nobody had an excuse not to sleep; at least, nobody with the exception of three.

The time was an incredibly late 23:10. In twenty short minutes, Silver would be arriving, and thirty-one minutes after that would be the group's only chance to infiltrate the enemy headquarters. With those events just a bit too fresh in his mind, Umbreon could barely keep his eyes closed long enough to blink, much less fall asleep. His heart rate wasn't controllable voluntarily, and underneath the gloves that Dawn gave to him were sweaty palms.

May, with Wizard scampering along at her side, had walked in from a door in the back of the dining room that Dusk hadn't been in before. In her hands was a steaming cup of tea, an item that the Pikachu would proudly announce that he assisted her in creating. On her mouth was a smile, put there by Dusk's statement as she took the seat directly next to him. "Maybe your career could be taking down maniac cults. There seem to be enough of them lately."

Wizard jumped on the table directly between the two humans. That made his Trainer reach forward for the sake of petting him. "I wish I was as confident as you are."

The woman took an elegant sip of the tea before shaking her head. "I'm not really that confident," she admitted against her better judgment. "This fight won't be easy. And if it hadn't been for you and Dawn, I'm not sure what would have happened to me and Brendan back in the desert. It's scary thinking about a battle harder than that one was."

Dusk rubbed his eyes. Despite that, he was smiling. "Not quite as morale-boosting as I was hoping for."

"But Gold reminded me of something." She stared deeply into her aromatic cup. "He told me that even though that was close...we made it out okay. Somehow, we always do. It makes me happy to think about that."

Dusk dropped the brim of his beret. "Blind faith?"

Because he did that, he couldn't see May as she leaned over to gently kiss him on the cheek. "If I had to choose between blind faith and blind despair, you wouldn't need to ask me which one I'd pick."

He succeeded in not physically reacting to either the gesture nor the words.

"From what I actually remember about battling Team Galactic, I don't remember you being so nervous." May moved the cup around in her hands, creating a small whirlpool inside of it that stirred the drink for her. "What's different between then and now? You even have another Pokémon."

It was fair to say that the question wasn't prepared for. He needed time to think about it. As much as he tried to fend it off, he could only come up with a single, somewhat shallow answer. "Revenge," he spoke simply, if not reluctantly. "They had taken my Pokémon."

Apparently startled by the response, she set the tea on the table and looked towards Dusk with a frustrated and confused expression. "Umbreon, Aqua and Magma have been a thorn in our sides since you got to Hoenn. They destroyed this city, tortured Brendan after I got separated from him, and caused us all a lot of grief. They were behind Latios's kidnapping, an event that devastated Latias, and also tricked him into impersonating as you and damaging your name. Even besides all of that, they-"

"Pika," was the surprising interruption from Wizard. Upon stopping May, he turned straight to his Trainer. "Pikachu. Chaa, pika pi."

"Even besides all that, they almost stole another one of my Pokémon," Dusk said, finishing May's sentence and translating Wizard's into English. "May...You're probably the last person I would have turned to if I needed to stir up my bitterness and anger. But thanks, all the same."

She gave a quiet and short-lived laugh. "Anything to ensure me that my best friend is fighting his hardest." Once again, she resorted to her tea as a means to escape looking at anything else. "For me...I'll never stop fighting as long as everyone's on my side."

After a phase of quitting due to some absent-mindedness, Umbreon resumed stroking Wizard down his side. "You and Dawn both, I think."

"Mm..."

Before anything else could be said, the sound of a twisting doorknob caught their attention. The door was brutally pushed open, causing it to slam into the wall and even bounce back a little because of the recoil. On the opposite side of the door frame was an indifferent Latios.

"Latios, hi..." May said weakly, now feeling much more vulnerable to the dragon's legendary power.

Without even a wave of acknowledgement, the blue-colored dragon floated into the room, returned to its former position of standing next to the door, and seemed to do the Eon Pokémon equivalent of folding his arms. His eyes, again, weren't looking straight ahead.

Despite being ignored, and previously being viciously eyed, May was determined to befriend her latest ally. "Latios, are you okay? If anything's wrong, we're great listeners. We could-"

Angered, he screeched. Unlike whenever Latias made a squeal or whine, Dusk and May were both able to clearly identify a cry. "Raa tio!"

Dusk clenched his fist. "Just answer one question. Are you going to help us fight Magma or not?"

Latios didn't even take any time to think about it. He brushed aside his anger, forcing himself instead to close his eyes and nod.

Having heard her close friend yell a moment ago, the trap Dawn skipped joyfully into the room and threw her arms around an unaware Latios. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation at first, but after realizing it was a disguised Latias, he once more returned the embrace without hesitation.

"_I'm positive that he won't fight against us,_" May thought to herself. "_But...I'm worried if he's going to fight with us._"

Her thinking process stopped when she noticed a detail that startled her greatly: one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen on Latias. She knew that the female dragon had respect for humans for as long as she knew her, but to see her so happy in Latios's presence without even realizing anybody else was in the room made May come to a head.

"_I trust Latias, and she trusts Latios. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't trust Latios, too._"

She released a small sigh. It nipped at Dusk's curiosity, but nothing was said.

-**OAM**-

All too fast, the first checkpoint was reached. At 23:28:47, crystal clear flapping wings were heard flying over the building. Many had awoken in the half-hour time span, but those who didn't were shocked awake by the loud sound.

"Dude, what's he riding on, a tidal wave?" Gold wondered, scraping the chair against the floor as he pushed it back. His friends and acquaintances all followed him as he made his way toward the Gym's exit.

As a result of Latios not moving, the still-human Latias didn't either, though she showed signs of wanting to.

For the first time in nearly all day, there wasn't a raindrop falling. The ground and everything attached to it were soaked, but they were grateful for the opportunity to step outside the door and not get drenched. All of the citizens that were working on the buildings had also disappeared somewhere to rest for the night. That revealed a golden opportunity for Silver and his "friends" to arrive.

"I think we're going to need to ask Latias how big that elevator is," Dawn stated, still slightly in awe.

His ride being an Aerodactyl, Silver was the first one to put his feet on the ground. After that, however, one by one, another Trainer riding a Flying Pokémon swooped in. All of the creatures were promptly recalled into their Pokéballs once the humans landed, making room for even more to dock.

When Silver noticed how stunned everyone was, he calmly asked, "I told you I was bringing some friends, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but..." Gold took a couple steps forward. "Bro, all your friends are wearing Magma outfits."

"No shiz, Sherlock," stated one of the cocky Magmas with a voice that Dawn recognized.

"Tabitha?" she asked in surprise.

Silver folded his arms and watched two more Magma grunts touch the ground. "Before leaving their base, I warned them that I'd be back. I didn't expect this to be the reason, but they were more eager to do this than I was expecting. I didn't even need to make an example out of anybody."

As soon as they landed, some Magmas donned their hood, while others took it off. The Hoenn Trainers recognized a few of the ones without the headgear, specifically as the ones that nearly killed them.

Brendan ran a hand through his hair. "Aw, man. Wait until the two inside get a load of this one."

Someone in a Magma costume, seemingly the buffest of them all, stepped forward with his arms also crossed. This time, it was a face that Dusk was familiar with. "My name is Archie. I'm in command of this group. I brought with me twenty of the best Magmas that were under my command, along with myself.

"We have a common enemy," he continued, "I don't know where their base is, but I can assure you that nearly everyone under their command at one time used to work for me. You've all proven that you can hold your own, but I can assure you that they would overpower you with numbers alone. We're here to be sure it doesn't end so easily."

Dusk was frowning. It was something that caught the attention of Silver. "Kid. You trusted this nutcase back in the desert. You're going to tell me that _now_ you're leery of him?"

"Back in the desert, 'trusting him' meant retreating from a battle that we were losing," Dusk stated bluntly. "Trusting him now means turning our backs to him."

"Dusk..." As always, Dawn kicked at the ground due to her nervousness. "I think we should trust them. At least...I do."

He didn't appear angry as he turned toward Dawn. His expression, however, was desperately requesting that she elaborated.

"Back then, Tabitha got talking about something really similar to this. About turning around and attacking this base for forgetting about them. And...I don't think Tabitha would lie. Not like that, anyway. So it's really not completely out of the question for them to help us."

Tabitha couldn't help putting his hands on his hips and smiling.

"It would be a shame to have made that trip for nothing," Archie said without a change in his emotion, "but if there's no trust between us, there's no point in us cooperating. What is your verdict, Dusk?"

"_My_ verdict is that you people follow one of the most indecisive and outright unpredictable leaders," Silver interrupted. "Whether he likes it or not, every Magma scum here is coming along."

"No." Umbreon put both hands into his pockets. "I trust them."

"What are the odds. Your mouth opened up, and useful words came out this time," Silver snorted. "Hmph. Now where's the base?"

"Patience," Brendan answered for him, now deciding to fold his arms. "Unless you're a good swimmer, we're not going anywhere for a little bit."

-**OAM**-

As they had done with Dawn not so long ago, it was necessary once more to explain every detail, this time to Silver and the Magmas. It took nearly twenty minutes to paraphrase everything Latias had told them. Before they could decide on how to spend ten more minutes, the inevitable confrontation occurred.

It was only natural that, since so much time had gone by, Latias had gotten curious where the team had gone to. Without intentions of ever being more than three feet away from her precious friend anymore, she happily dragged Latios to the front door via gripping his claw tightly and pulling him with her.

The cheerful skipping that commenced came to a grinding halt as soon as she neared the open exit. As her previously-unsuspecting gaze shifted quickly to alarmed, it was Latios' turn to hold his friend's hand roughly. A soft nod followed that.

Roark was lining up another witty one-liner when an interruption came in the form of two Eon Pokémon tearing out from behind him. Both dragons blindly targeted two of the Magmas, Latios going for a grunt while Latias swooped in to hit Tabitha.

The unnamed Magma was nailed, but for a second time, Tabitha's reflexes saved him. A well-timed duck helped him successfully dodge the physical attack.

Latios didn't appreciate that his friend's attack had been evaded, but as he flew forward for his own attempt, a sharp, masculine cry of "No!" nearly stopped him. However, he ignored it and continued with his plans.

Since his demand didn't work, Brendan had only enough time to let out an irritated growl before racing forward. He managed to reach Tabitha before Latios did, allowing him to "catch" the dragon. However, catching meant taking the entirety of the attack himself.

As a very frustrated Latios pulled back and howled its own name, an even more worried May ran forward to inspect the damage. "Brendan! Are you okay?"

"Never better..." Brendan moaned, gripping his own midsection. When his girlfriend arrived at his side, he put one arm around her shoulders to help support his own weight. "I love having jet plane dragon things bash into my stomach going thirty miles an hour."

"...Uh," a surprised Tabitha sputtered, "Thanks, man."

"Yeah. Just don't screw us over later, all right?"

Meanwhile, Dawn took two steps forward and cupped her hands around her mouth to echo her voice. "Latias, stop! We can explain!"

"I'm glad," Archie said, looking into the sky at the two legendary Pokémon. "Because I'm quite interested in hearing the explanation."

Seven minutes disappeared before a startled Max alerted everybody of the time. Only minutes remained until the elevator allegedly rose from the waters, granting them the short-lived access they needed to infiltrate the HQ. By that time, Latias certainly didn't appreciate needing to work with anybody in a red suit, but accepted Dawn's judgment. Latios, the polar opposite, looked ready to attack just about anyone; all that stopped him was the rather thin line of trusting Latias's trust.

The Magmas weren't the only concern of the female dragon, now back in her human form. Her non-curable phobia of Silver nagged at her constantly. As the team made a mad dash for the lake, her eyes were either on the ground or looking at the murderer. He ignored all of her glances.

Teams Missile, Magma, and their unaffiliated allies failed in their goal of reaching the lake before the heroes' Pokétchs read 00:01. Instead, the situation landed in Dusk's "good enough" range; they were able to see that the lake wasn't still. What started as a tiny ripple effect quickly rose in magnitude. The small event was a key that unlocked an increased heart rate of the whole group. None were without pounding excitement and a tinge of fear, for whatever came out of that elevator would need to be fought in the pitch blackness of the night. The unreliable moon had been the only way to spot the unstill water in the first place.

Everyone halted their running, while Latios quit flying, just feet away from the edge of the lake. It took no time at all for a large block to surface from underneath the water. Being among the few that had clearly watched it rise, Wizard back-flipped from his perch and into the front of the pack, landing on all fours in preparation for an attack.

While not silent, the totally black-colored box made its appearance with an eerie amount of subtlety. Unsurprising considering its use, judging solely from the outside, the elevator's capacity was no less than fifty people. However, the doors crept open automatically, forcing Wizard to mumble out a confused "Pika?"

Though it was capable of holding half of one hundred, it contained much less than that. In fact, it contained none.

Wizard turned around and reported the situation to his Trainer, who wasn't able to see through the darkness. "Pika! Chuu, pika pi!"

Upon his translating the message into English, Dusk found his group at their least talkative.

"The plot thickens," Roark stated. "Suddenly, this ain't a house call. They're probably down there setting tea tables up."

"You know how much I hate saying this, but Roark's right, Umbry," Brendan reluctantly agreed. He set a hand on his Sinnoh brother's shoulder. "The only reason they'd send this elevator up with no one in it is if they're waiting for us."

Tabitha cut in, "Pfft, so what? They're going to jump us two seconds in. I was ready for that, anyway."

Dusk walked forward to grab Wizard back. Dawn took a step toward him, but ended her pursuit when he addressed the entire group. "It changes the rules, but not the game. So, any regrets?"

"My only regret is having gone to Sinnoh in the first place." Smirking, the male Hoenn Coordinator put his hands on his hips. "If it was up to me, we'd probably still be sampling snow cones in Orre, but a certain somebody _insisted_ we go to Sinnoh."

Knowing she was being implied and not caring about it, May turned to someone else in the group. As always when speaking to him, she knelt down on a single knee only to look back up at him. "Max, I need you to stay here."

"What?!" he shouted loudly, much to the disdain of everyone else. "No way am I getting left behind!"

She rubbed his cheek with her glove. "I know that you're a really good Trainer now, but..."

"But what?" he whined back, unsure if he wanted to cooperate or not.

She took a moment to formulate any response she could. In the meantime, she fixed the collar of her brother's shirt. "The truth is that we used to get in some pretty bad times, but...those were a whole different level from what we're about to face. I need you to stay up here, where it's safe."

"But I-"

"Max?" a different female voice interrupted. This one belonged to a blue-haired Trainer near the argument. "May, if you don't mind..."

"No, please!" she exclaimed, backing off.

Dawn walked up to Max. Doing so was almost pointless, given that it was too dark to make much of an impact, but she thought she should fill in May's space anyway. "I definitely get that you're annoyed, but I know what May is getting at. I'm an older sister too, and nothing seems quite as annoying as when I'm ignored."

"But the younger sibling is supposed to do that," Max argued weakly.

"Still," she replied, though now grinning. "I'm not saying this as May's friend, but as someone who's been in her position a lot of times. Nothing would make her happier than if you listened to her. Besides, there's got to be some way you could help even up here, right?"

Max finally gave up, and let it be known with a large sigh. "Fine...I don't see how I could possibly do anything up here, though. Not with just a stupid laptop."

One more person allowed himself into the conversation, though his voice was one much less familiar. One of the Magmas took a step forward. "Pardon, but did you mention a laptop?"

"Uh...Yeah," Max responded quietly.

"Hah!" Tabitha laughed before granting his man, "Go for it!"

"Very well, then. I'd like to offer to you my skills. Together with your computer, we might be able to hack into the HQ's system and cause distractions. Prevent alarms, mess with security, and what have you."

Max pushed his glasses further up his nose, as always. A devilish smirk was in the place of his mouth. "Well, now, when you put it _that_ way..."

"That was a heartwarming waste of time," Silver spat. "Let's get in that damn elevator before they change their minds."

Nobody had an argument to fight Silver with. May gave her brother a kiss on his head before catching up with the rest of the group that was flooding into the open doors. She sang a soft "thank you" as she passed Dawn on her way to finding Brendan.

Being the last two to board the ride, Dusk had a question for his partner when she walked closer to him. "When you said that you were an older sister, did you mean to Latias or...?"

"Both," she answered happily on her way past him.

After a second of meditating on her reply, a determined "Pika" from his shoulder got him moving into the elevator.

It became apparent that they couldn't have decided to press on at a better time. The doors had already begun shutting by the time Umbreon got on. Before he could even turn around to say farewell to May's brother and the single Magma grunt, the doors locked and the elevator began sinking.

Once it was completely submerged in water, thus being out of sight, Max couldn't stop a lingering sigh of disappointment. He tried to get his mind off of the situation by asking an obvious question. "What's your name?"

"I was the head engineer at our base. If anything involved technology, I was the first one to arrive. Please, call me Jake."

-**OAM**-

Soon after beginning its descent, the elevator suddenly became illuminated by lights hidden behind a grating on the ceiling. They weren't floodlights by any means, but it was welcoming to everyone to see in front of their own faces. Due to that, they noticed there was a series of buttons next to the exit; however, everything seemed to be going automatically, so nobody risked playing around with them. On the opposite side was a small plexiglass window, which got dubbed "cool" by the team's own Gold.

The ride wasn't at its most comfortable. All of Team Missile, plus Roark, Gold, Silver, Archie, Tabitha, eighteen of their underlings, and Latias and Latios led up to an elevator that was closer to its capacity than anyone liked. Of course, it was necessary for the firepower alone.

Both dragons were in their natural form, off to their own side and embracing one another in a hug. Whether it was for comfort, confidence, or just because, nobody was daring enough to ask. A few of the Magmas that were fascinated by the sight of the legendary creatures watched anyway.

Their gaze was temporarily blocked as Brendan walked in front of them to get to the window. It was just after midnight, and the water was hardly any brighter than it was on the surface. He didn't get to see much more than his own reflection. "I don't suppose we actually have a plan?"

"What can we plan?" Dusk was quick to answer, having been thinking about it a lot lately himself. "We don't know how many we're up against, how strong they are, or even what the building looks like. There's no easy way to say that, at best, we'll be improvising. A lot."

"No easy way, huh?" Brendan sighed, pushing his hand up against the elevator wall to lean on it. "You didn't seem to have much of a problem."

Their time to think, hope, gain trust, place bets, tell jokes, or any other possible activity was coming to a known end. The elevator's speed began to decrease steadily, giving the team a clear indication that they were quite close to the bottom floor.

In front of the pack was Umbreon. He chose to stand directly in front of the doors, fully planning on being the first one off the line. He tried to concentrate his mind on the unforgivable acts that Aqua and anyone leading them committed. As May showed him, that was what helped keep his focus clear.

His pseudo-meditation state was interrupted by the elevator coming to a dead stop, followed shortly by the doors pulling to the sides. Before anyone's gazes could get far into the building, they were stopped by a human figure.

She was in her Magma suit - an Admin's, meaning it was the female equivalent's to Tabitha's uniform. As usual, it was her defining grey hair and tall stature that gave her identity away. Unlike the greeting she had planned out in her head, the mysterious little smirk she bore near instantly shifted to an annoyed frown. "Hmph. Nobody told me we'd have so many guests..."

Tabitha stepped closer to the front, laughing. "Key, Key, Key...Good old Key. How-"

"Get over yourself, Tabitha. I'm still not interested," she snapped back coldly.

"Bang, bang!" Roark commentated, "Phewww...Boom! And he's shot down!"

"Shut up, mate..." Tabitha muttered.

Dawn shook her head in an attempt at removing any thoughts about those two being paired up. In its place appeared thoughts about betrayal. "Key, I...thought of you as a friend. The few times that we got to do it, I loved talking to you! Why-Key!"

It shouldn't have been surprising that the unsettled Magma didn't care much for a friendship speech of any sort. She turned around and bolted, giving everyone a seemingly clear building to travel into.

"Don't worry," Dusk comforted. "I plan on finding her again. Let's move!"


	25. The End, Part 1

The command sent the brigade charging into Team Magma's headquarters at top speed. Their surroundings seemed to assist Tabitha in recovering from his embarrassment, sending him instead into a fit of laughter.

"They barely changed a friggin' lil' thing."

Ahead of them laid a hallway without a side door in sight. The only possible path to continue on was a flight of stairs leading downwards. The noted path wasn't long, and without any sign of a blockade, it was only moments before everyone was racing down steps.

Dusk continued pounding down stairs. Since he was in the lead, the team was relying on him to not stop. "You know the layout of this place?"

"Any Magma worth his salt better know it," Tabitha shot back.

"I stand believing that if I knew the layout of the building, it wouldn't be in one piece," Archie noted, having overheard the conversation.

Tabitha touched down on the last of the steps. "All right, a point to Archie. Anyway, they must have used a Psychic Pokémon or something to transport it down here."

Along with most by now, Silver was also at the bottom of the staircase. He looked down the next road they needed to travel with a snarl. "We'll ask them to share their secrets later. We got company."

Another turn, another hallway. Right was the only way to go after descending from the steps, which forced them to traverse down one more close-fitting path. Unusually, the next path was even shorter than the first one they had just traversed. It led to an expansive room, spoiled only by a group of Aqua thugs lingering inside of it.

Of course, there was only one way through. Before anybody continued, Tabitha looked towards his crew. "All right, ladies, this is what you came along for. Give us a free ride right past them!"

"Yes sir!" most agreed in unison.

When everyone got to the room, a team of twenty grunts stood on the opposite side, smirking with their arms folded. A quarter of them stood in front of the room's only exit, which was directly across from where the team entered from. They were all equipped with typical Aqua grunt gear, but remained almost unfazed when they found Archie in their pile of enemies.

"If it ain't the old boss!" a male grunt cockily yelled. "We were wasting ah'r time undah you, chief. Magma's got it all."

"That much, I'd have to agree with," Tabitha stated. "Unfortunately-"

Archie took one step forward and used his uniquely gruff voice to cut his Admin off. "Unfortunately, we don't have time to deal with the likes of you. It's your managers that we need to speak to."

"Tha'z good, 'cause I think they're lookin' for you, too!"

"Enough." The past leader of Aqua gave a stern look to one of his own. "Sullivan, get us through."

"At once!" an older voice replied from underneath his Magma hood. "Golem, go!"

The Rock-type popped out of the sphere that Sullivan had launched. There was a harmless quake is it landed on the ground, but the event was overshadowed by a familiar female voice ringing from beyond the Aqua grunts.

"Why, that's rather rash. You haven't tried asking them to move politely out of your way yet, have you?"

It was almost predictable that both Brendan's and Gold's hands would turn red from how hard they balled their hands into fists. "This will be the best part of the entire night, Alexia," the former called out. "I've never wanted to take somebody out quite as badly as you."

The opposing side opened a bit, allowing Alexia to walk through. There was no differences in her appearance from the last time they had all seen her, barring a wide smile. "Brendan, that is such an honor! You're so sweet."

Tabitha grabbed a Pokéball. "Are we waiting for an invitation? Let's make like a credit card and charge it!"

Everyone attempted to do that, but their plans were abruptly interrupted. Alexia reached her hand behind her back, where she had been hiding a remote control. With a single press of a button, a portion of the floor gave in, permanently creating a gaping hole.

The plan wasn't foolproof - she had pressed the button two seconds too late, allowing many to escape the nasty pitfall trap. However, she seemed more than satisfied hearing the screams of those that were caught up in it: Dusk, May, Roark, Gold, and Tabitha. All five were guilty of gasps and yells out of sheer surprise, masked slightly by the sound of Alexia laughing.

Brendan recognized too many of those cries. He turned around and bolted for the trap; peering down, however, proved to be a waste of effort with thanks given to pitch blackness. "Gold, Dusk! **May!**"

"Quit yelling," snapped Silver, "We're heading downstairs anyway. We'll meet them down there the easy way."

Archie stepped up, his arms folded snug. "If they're not dead already, they'll be fine. I say that not only because of Tabitha, but Dusk, as well. We have our own concerns, I'd say."

It was only Dawn's head that was turned toward the broken floor. That didn't mean she wasn't anxious as she stared at it. "If they're not dead already...? Way to cheer a girl up..."

Latias floated down from the ceiling. If Archie wasn't going to cheer Dawn up, she was. She tried rubbing her head into Dawn's neck, which earned her a couple giggles and not much else.

Given a fresh reminder that their enemies had legendary power on their side, Alexia huffed, "Oh, right. You. I forgot about you. Wait until you see how we're getting rid of you. Mm..." Her gaze shifted to Archie. "So, big boy, how about a deal? All of your men against all of mine, and we'll take our fight somewhere more...private."

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," he replied without missing a beat. He looked side to side to see that none of the Magma grunts had gotten caught in the trap, lending even more power to his words. "I've seen the way your men fight...and I'm honestly not impressed. Half of this team will be more than enough to destroy every single one of your own."

She licked her lips. "I see. So you know, that's one part obnoxious, and one part hot..." Turning to her team, she demanded clearly, "Let as many through as they want. Just make sure to clean up the blood when you're through with them."

The sea parted, leaving two lines of blue- and white-clothed men on either side of the doorway. Dawn needed to give a strong pat on Brendan's shoulder to get him moving, but it was barely any time after that until nearly everyone was racing for the same pathway that Alexia had bolted for. All that were left behind were the agreed count of nine Magma soldiers, all of them already releasing their Pokémon for assistance.

-**OAM**-

Dusk gave a long, pained moan. "Tabitha, I like you so far, but a warning that she might do that would have really been appreciated."

"That was hardly planned, kid."

The fall wasn't fun, and landing was even worse. Pressure was felt through every inch of their bodies, though it was all more irritating than serious.

As Brendan had already observed, they were once again surrounded by the fear-inducing dark. The only thing they could make out was a very thin puddle of water that they had landed on. It didn't help them at all - now not only were they in pain, their clothes were soaked, too.

Gradually peeling himself off of the uncomfortable fall-breaker, Dusk asked, "All right, so who's actually down here?"

"I'm here, in at least one piece..." Gold whined, gripping his own back as he tried to get off the ground.

The only Gym Leader climbed to his shaky feet. "Aren't we lucky sons of people?"

"Oww..." the only female around groaned.

Umbreon followed the sound of May's voice. He found her body still limply lying in the quarter-inch-deep water. "Are you all right, May? No amnesia or anything, right?"

She laughed, despite it hurting to do so. Her friend's touch gave her enough confidence to sit up.

"That must be everyone," the leader stated. "We need to figure out how to-"

He was interrupted by something he didn't mind so much; an adorable-sounding sneeze. "A-chu!" That was followed by a sigh. "...Pika pi."

"Water up the nose?" Dusk asked with a steady smirk.

"Chaa," was the slightly stuffy reply.

Roark finally stood confidently on his feet, somewhat altering the direction of where his voice came from. "Well, if the fluff ball's down here, I can finally find out what it feels like to be on the right side of him. You know, instead of him screwing me over all the time."

Wizard took great pride in being the only member of Team Missile that could almost see better in the dark than with sunlight. Looking around, he found that they were surrounded on three sides by the same thing that was underneath them: cement. There was a few slow leaks through-out every wall, answering the question where the water had come from. Naturally, the most exciting part was the fourth wall, which contained a very usable passageway. It was only three feet tall and as many feet wide, but it remained one of their two escape routes.

"Pika! Pikaa pi!"

"Sounds like P found a way out," Gold chimed in.

"Umbreon?" May fumbled with her bag until she found the zipper to it. "I have Blaziken, and even Pelipper. If it's any easier, we could ride on them to go back up."

Dusk walked over to where he had heard Wizard scamper off to. When he stopped, he turned around to face his team, even though he couldn't see any of them. "I'm way too curious to see where this leads. I want to know where they want us to go. If any of you like May's idea better, I'd say so now."

"Ha. Yeah, right." Roark spat in the water. "I've learned my lesson. I'm sticking with this kid."

"I ain't going nowhere!" Gold exclaimed. "A sp'lunking expedition with heavy D and DJ P? Rock on!"

"I'll do anything you say, Umbreon," May said sincerely.

"Anything?" a verily interested Roark inquired. He was fittingly ignored.

"Majority sways me," the final member, Tabitha, agreed. "Three hicks can't be wrong, eh?"

Their trip began. Aside from Wizard, the Twinleaf Trainer was first, making it his responsibility to feel around for the dimensions of the tunnel. Upon alerting his makeshift crew of the claustrophobic conditions, they all either squatted or crawled their way into the darkness. Secretly not trusting any of the remaining options, May was more than happy to allow all of the men to go first, leaving her rear in the back of it all.

All of their hopes were on Wizard.

-**OAM**-

"Like they needed to give us any more of a reason to drown every single one of them," Brendan angrily muttered.

Though Dawn was technically higher on the list than he was, the Trainer from Hoenn couldn't help himself from wanting to take control of the team. There was revenge to be dealt, and he so desperately wanted to be holding the cards.

He was the first to be charging down the stairs that they had come across at the end of the hallway. A sharp u-turn at the base of the set of five-stairs led to a duplicate set; one more u-turn after that led to another flight of stairs that was triple the length. Still bubbling with hatred, Brendan wasted no time in beginning the descent. By the time he noticed that Alexia was standing at the foot of the staircase, it was too late to warn the majority of the team that she had the same remote control in her hands.

Another button press. Instantly, a chunk of the railing separated from the rest. With no bond connecting the two, the detached steps began falling straight to the floor, bringing anyone on them along for the ride.

Startled gasps echoed with a tinny sound. Dawn was an exception. She gave a girlish "Eeek!" for a full second - that was how long it took her to realize she wasn't falling. Upon looking up, her eyes were left to observe that her numbed hand was trapped inside the hold of Latios' claws.

The rest, naturally, weren't as fortunate. After crashing on the ground with a loud bang, the startled group of Brendan, Silver, Archie, and all of the Magma grunts looked onward to Alexia as she laughed.

"Brendan, more and more of your team keeps falling for me! I'm truly flattered, but it's beginning to be a bit too much."

Latios gently lowered a silent, but grateful Dawn to the floor. The act of saving her best friend earned him an ecstatic squeal from his dragon partner.

"Why are you doing this?" Archie asked crossly, hiding his sudden burst of adrenaline well. "It'll cost you time and money to fix your base. Within three minutes, you've made this sector useless."

"Oh, wait until we get ten minutes in, dear!" For once, she stopped laughing. "As for why we're doing it, it's more than simple. We were told not to underestimate you. We were told to eliminate you. And we were told that no price was too big to do that. We'll blow up the entire base if it means getting rid of you."

"Good," Silver said, jumping into the conversation. "It's good to know that you're all as insane as I thought you were."

Alexia ran a hand through her blond locks. "Insane, dedicated...Doesn't it all mean the same thing?"

Starting to get over the trip his enemy had sent him on, Brendan felt as though he could confidently crack his knuckles. "I'd say it's just about time I shut that trap of yours once and for all."

"Oh, but...It's so crowded in here." Alexia looked around. Since the stairs were totally unusable now, it was just four walls with a convenient door placed behind her. "Won't you follow me?" she asked cutely, slowly walking backwards.

She opened the door a crack, letting her slim body slip through it. Her giggling was heard by all the entire time.

Brendan clenched his fist. "This is such a painfully obvious trap."

"But, of course, you are still going to blindly waltz in there," Silver stated.

"But, of course, I am," he replied using a mocking tone. As soon as he set one hand on the doorknob, an inhuman caw caught him off-guard.

He spun around to face the team, and out of all of them, he wouldn't have guessed that Latias was going to be the angriest one. Latios was looking at her with a form of neutrality, then turned to Brendan and did the one thing to pump him up. The movement that excited him enough to put a smile on his face.

A nod.

"...All right," he said after a moment's pause. Afterwards, he turned back around and entered through the door, followed quite quickly by the Eons.

The room was enough to surprise Brendan, along with the Magmas that soon poured in after him. For the first time, it was a large room that they found themselves in. The dozen hanging lighting fixtures that were attached to the ceiling lit up every detail on the walls that were built from pure rock. Being surrounded by stone created an earthy atmosphere, giving the Coordinator a similar feeling to when he was in Roark's Gym.

Unlike Roark's Gym, however, there were benches on two sides of the room. The objective for them was obvious: allowing spectators to enjoy the battle that took place in the arena. Sections in the middle of the floor were covered in white paint, creating a design that resembled the official Pokémon League's own battle arenas. Alexia stood in the Trainer box furthest away from Brendan; granted that even the size of the ring was accurate, she was quite a distance away. The room would undoubtedly echo, however, meaning that he wasn't free from Alexia's voice.

"Well? How do you like it, hm?"

Brendan looked past his opponent. Behind her stood a door, somewhat hidden in the shadows of the temple-like structure built around it. Four stone pillars held up a ceiling. All that the flashy design told Brendan was that beyond that door was something they probably don't want him to see. That made going through Alexia all the more rewarding. "You put quite a bit of time into this. Pointless, considering you people fight like barbarians, but I appreciate the effort."

Alexia frowned as Brendan walked closer to his own Trainer box. Not because of the two legendary dragons that were on either side of him, but due more to his words being so cruel. "That's so mean, Brendan!""

"Yeah, let's talk about mean." He stopped walking now that he was in the desired spot. "You almost killed me in Lavaridge, you destroyed my hometown, and you've rigged your base with rejected action movie traps. But even above all that, you've been bugging me for _weeks_ about having a single battle with you." He threw his arms into the air. "Well, here I am. I did, however, bring a little help with me."

On that cue, Latias and Latios dove towards the arena. They kept on Brendan's side of the field, though the female seemed more than anxious to start attacking the other side.

"But they don't count, right?"

Dawn was still in the other room. She had waited until all of the Magmas had gotten out first before leaving, which had taken longer than she had been expecting. As she took one step outside the door frame, she looked back to see the last member of this team showing no interest in following her. "Silver?"

It wasn't uncommon that the red-head ignored the girl, but it was what his eyes were on that worried the girl.

Behind where the stairs had fallen, on the far back side of the room, was an almost unnoticeable grey object. Silver had noticed it, however, and after taking this long to contemplate some thoughts, he walked swiftly over to it.

"Silver, the battle-"

Mustering surprisingly little strength, Silver tore the object straight off the ground. For the short time that he had been holding onto it, Dawn realized that it was a cover for a vent. "Do what you want," he told her sharply.

With that vague warning given, the athletic and apparently daring young adult jumped into the hole he had just created.

Dawn looked through the open doorway. The battle still hadn't begun yet, but she saw that Alexia was holding onto a couple Pokéballs. Then her head shifted toward the unexpected escape route. "He can't yell at me. I'm doing what he told me to."

And with that vague warning given, she followed him.

Inside the room through the ignored door, Brendan had a competitive smirk on his face. "So? I'm more than interested to see how you're going to fight Yin and Yang here."

Arming her seductive tone, she readily replied, "Haven't you ever heard to be careful what you wish for, Brendan?"

Unleashing the Pokéballs in her hand, two Pokémon followed their appearance up with a shriek of their own names. A Scizor stood directly opposite of Latias, while her Lanturn was across from Latios. One of them made Brendan drop his frown and the other turned it into a snarl.

"Where on Hoenn does your Pokémon supply come from?!"

"Oh. What's that? Stalling?" Alexia giggled, "Scizor, Bullet Punch!"

Brendan had heard the rumors that the Eon dragons could eventually overtake jets moving at top speed. Pushing him to cringe, he found out the hard way that not even a record like that was enough to dodge the attack. By the time he blinked, Scizor wailed a claw into Latias' head, then seamlessly bolted over to repeat the process to her partner.

He began to realize just how obnoxious he was walking into the battle. Scizor could not only wall hits from the Eons all day, but dish out that painful Bullet Punch while it was at it. He was scared to ask what that Lanturn had in store for him. If there was to be any hope of winning the match and possibly impressing the Magmas that were on the sidelines, he couldn't waste all of his time worrying. "Awright. Dragon Pulse, both of you!"

The legendary dragons fired their attacks at the Pokémon that stood across from them. However, Alexia had a different idea. "Scizor, Bullet Punch!"

As fast as the name would imply, Scizor took off to launch a second physical attack, but this time, it wasn't aimed at Brendan. The steel-coated insect barreled toward Lanturn, finishing in a pose of holding its fist out in front of the fish's face. This resulted in the obvious: the Dragon Pulse aimed at Scizor missed, while the one heading for Lanturn was taken in stride by its partner.

"Zorrr..." it hummed as it brushed one claw off with the other.

"I'm afraid that this one has a very special purpose," the Trainer explained. "Taking hits wouldn't help me out very much."

"Of course it wouldn't," Brendan agreed rhetorically. Though one part of him was happy that he knew what to aim for, the other part knew that he'd have to get by a Steel-type that was faster than lightning to get to it. He still didn't have many ideas, and Alexia was about to make it worse.

"Lanturn, Water Pulse!"

That's when Brendan's eyebrows furrowed in befuddlement.

Sure enough, the aquatic ring was formed and pushed toward Latias. Apart from the favorable typing, the red-colored Eon's natural ability to take most special attacks without pain made the move more of a refreshing bath than an assault of any kind. Latias blinked before shaking her body in an attempt to dry herself.

"Uh...Was that mis-click?" the male Trainer wondered.

The Aqua Admin brought a finger to her lips and held it across them horizontally. "There's that sense of humor again...But for your information, there's quite a sound theory behind it. You wouldn't understand it right now, but I'm sure you will soon."

"Allow me to hold my breath." With his focus truly getting into the battle, Brendan pointed towards the main enemy as he called out his attacks. "That bug needs to be squashed! Latias, hold it down with Psychic so Latios can use Luster Purge!"

Considering that Psychic-type moves weren't any less effective against Scizor than Dragon-types, nobody could remark on the switch-up. To the secret surprise of Brendan, it actually turned out even better. Despite resisting it, Latias was able to do as she was commanded and make the durable insect sit down for a second with Psychic. That gave Latios just enough time to make his eyes glow a pure white, followed by an energy stream straight from his mouth. The same-colored beam collided with its target, pushing the Pokémon to the floor.

"And we're the barbarians?" Alexia scoffed, "You're the one that's attempting to pound through a Steel-type with a bunch of moves that it resists."

Brendan set his hands on his hips. "Hey, considering I'm winging what attacks these two know, I'd say I'm not doing too bad."

"Scizor, get up. Lanturn, Water Pulse!" she demanded with an increasingly irritated voice.

As the bulky bug climbed to its feet, its partner let loose with another water-based attack. This one was sent careening toward the opposite Eon who received it with just about as much pain as the other had. He shivered only because it was moderately cold, then resumed his battle position, no worse off than a little drenched.

For the second time, the Hoenn Trainer was left in the dark about that selection. "_What's the point...?_"

Alexia aimed her finger toward Latias. "Scizor, go! Bullet Punch! And make this one hurt."

After any warning like that, and whether Brendan wanted him to or not, Latios was going to stand in between his closest friend and the attack. However, due to that infuriating speed dilemma, he could barely set off before he heard a sound he never wanted to hear.

Scizor was already standing in front of her, its arm having made contact a full second ago. The attack had been aimed straight at her chest, and she felt it. Howling in distress, she backed away a couple feet before making an unplanned landing.

Brendan ran for Latias, hoping to find out what had been damaged. He also knew that Latios would need no instruction in the meantime.

When Scizor turned around, he was greeted by the blue- and white-colored dragon standing directly behind him. Teeth were showing and a claw was raised, but he was startled for a second upon hearing a command.

"Lanturn, another Water Pulse!"

The remaining Trainer gave a quick analyses of the situation. Latios was hovering two inches from the face of Scizor, while both Latias and Brendan were on the opposite side of that. To him, this meant that Alexia had given them an easy out.

"Latios, fly straight up!" he called out.

Even if he were capable of speech, Latios wouldn't be able to put into words how much he wanted to avenge Latias. Though frustrating to him, the nod that he had given Brendan in the other room meant that he would trust him for the battle. That and not much else was what convinced him to drop the Dragon Claw attempt in favor of retreating vertically.

Alexia growled. "You fool!"

To which Brendan laughed, "Looking in a mirror?"

With no Latios in the way, the Water Pulse continued moving until it hit something; of course, the next thing in line was Scizor. It was too late for a Bullet Punch command to be called, leaving the metallic Bug-type low and wet.

After that, Scizor looked entirely stunned. It didn't move, no matter what command it was given. It was when it began punching the ground continuously that the pieces came together for Brendan.

"It's confused..._That's_ why you spent so much time hitting the two? Trying to confuse them?"

She gave no reply, aside from a snarl that he could see clear across the stadium.

Brendan didn't care about that. Instead, he looked up to see what Latios was doing; his eyes ended up moving just a little farther up, though. He looked back down at the immobile Scizor, then back up only to see that one of the hanging lighting fixtures was directly in line with the enemy Pokémon. "Latios, give that light up there a chop, would you?"

It was an unexpected command in Latios' eyes, but one that he was a bit more confident in than the last. Flying up even closer to the ceiling, he found the thin string that contained all of the wires inside of it. Without hesitation, the Dragon Claw that he was set to use before ripped straight through the cords.

With a quick evasive jump backwards, Brendan was able to fully enjoy watching the light smash into Scizor's head. Still, there was no reason to be done with it. "Latias, I know you're okay. Now use Psychic and send Scizor there flying straight up to meet your friend!"

She was still on the ground, and she was still in pain. Despite that, she realized that she had more than enough strength to do as she was commanded. The second Psychic attack was used, but rather than keeping the Pokémon pinned, she used her mind to launch him straight into the air.

"Finish that thing off, Latios!"

After this long of a battle, the dragon was happy to oblige. He charged up a Dragon Pulse and sent it roaring towards Scizor as the bug flew up to him. The intense blast pushed Scizor back into the wall.

The completely spontaneous combo ended when Scizor fell all the way down, smashing head-first into the ground.

"Raa tio!" Latios cried in victory.

"No, no," Brendan cut in. "It's, 'K.O.!'"

Slightly interrupting the moment, a red beam traveled straight across the battlefield, finally nicking Scizor and recalling it into a Pokéball. At the same time, the other red Pokémon pulled herself together and hovered softly off the ground.

Brendan couldn't think of a reason not to smile. Not only did he just cost Team Aqua ten dollars to replace that light, he had finished off one of the most threatening Pokémon he could think of. After a relieving sigh, he first heard a reason to not smile, and then saw it.

"Alexia? Are you...crying?"

"The boss..." Sniffling, she rubbed her arm clear across her eyes to catch some of the tears. She remained looking sad for an Admin, but still glared at Brendan. "The boss said that I wouldn't _need_ anything else. That stupid Scizor was supposed to take care of the both of them."

"...I..." Brendan muttered, truly not knowing what to say. "It...got a few hits in?..."

It was luck that an outside source came to save Brendan from his verbal inefficiencies. From the stands that had been purely silent until now, Archie stood up and faced the opposing side of the field. "Alexia, I know your boss better than you do. I've forgotten how long we've been enemies."

"So_ what?!_" she snapped, now looking at her ex-boss.

As always, Archie remained completely immune to the anger. "Outside, you mentioned that your boss wants us eliminated. However, he spoke nothing about you being the one to eliminate us. Or am I mistaken?"

Her thoughts, and body, froze.

Archie continued, "Accept the facts, Alexia. Your boss is a greedy and insane man. He told you that you could never lose with the sole intention of you never winning. If anyone is going to beat us this day, he would never let it be an underling whose name he's probably forgotten by now."

"You...You..." Alexia blinked back tears. Soon after she felt confident she was done crying, her face turned extremely sour. "Shut up! You don't even know what you're talking about!" Jerking to Brendan, she continued yelling, "This battle isn't even over yet! I know how to beat you! Lanturn, Thunder Wave!"

The Electric-type aquatic Pokémon built up the correct amount of lightning for a Thunder Wave attack. It sent the paralysis-inducing ball hurling towards Latias.

The Trainer thought almost nothing of it until the attack was halfway to his Pokémon. It was then that his eyes widened. "Latios, intercept that attack, **now!**"

Being Latias' whipping boy wasn't something he usually needed to be told to do. With an unanimous polling, Latios dove to hover in front of his other.

Latias couldn't even protest. Her eyes widened when a six-foot wall suddenly appeared between her and something she greatly feared. Even under those circumstances, she wanted to take the attack simply so Latios wouldn't need to, but didn't have time to voice her opinion. By the time she could, the numbing bolt was already surging through Latios' body.

Just like the opposite Eon, he was no longer able to remain online when struck by paralysis. His ability to hover gave out, dropping him to the ground while also rendering most of his other abilities useless.

An incapacitated partner led up to a dangerously angry Latias. That, however, wasn't the only reason she was upset. Alexia was the most controlling of her during the time she spent as a double agent; above that, she still thought of the Admin as someone led by Team Magma -the men in red suits- her eternal nemesis.

All of her unfathomable hatred was materialized in the form of a Mist Ball. Using strength reserves she was never aware that she had, Latias let her signature move fly straight into Lanturn.

Alexia was nearly deafened by the wind that blew into her ear as Lanturn was blasted right past her. The Water-type never stopped until it met with one of the four stone pillars in the background, creating a small dent in it before falling to the floor.

The room fell uncomfortably silent. Alexia knew she had no capabilities of winning. Brendan found a Full Heal that was lying inside of his backpack and jammed the needle into Latios. All the Magmas stood up, preparing to continue their mission after the refreshing rest, while the female dragon joyfully chirped when she realized that she was the first thing her friend had seen when he opened his eyes.

Still squatting, Brendan looked across the field to Alexia. His eyes shifted to Latios, though he wasn't paid attention to. One sigh later, he stood up and made an unsure trail over to Alexia.

The two of them were almost equal in height; in spite of that, there were a couple differences. One had just lost a crucial battle, while the other won. One's vision was blocked by tears, where as the other's remained perfectly clear.

"And what do you want?" she scowled, doing her best to look at her opponent.

Brendan's eyes turned to the floor for a moment. After rubbing them with his fingers, they returned to Alexia. "I'm about to do something that I've done time and time again, and have regretted almost every single time."

"That being?" she replied in a rude tone.

"Alexia, this is hard enough as it is. You being a prick isn't making it easier." After one more heave of air, he held his hand out in front of him. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to expect it, but he remained offering a handshake. "Go get in the elevator and get out of here."

"_What?_" she instantly shot back. It didn't appear that her intentions were to accept his gesture, or even sound grateful for the verbal offer.

"You really piss me off, Alexia. You really do. That's why I want you on the surface. Safe and alive." Thinking about the first two of his sentences, he realized that she's never going to shake his hand. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and continued explaining, "This little game down here is almost done. And when you're _not_ looking to kill me and my friends...I think you and I would be good as rivals."

She wasn't speechless, but her train of thought wasn't operating correctly, so her mouth stayed shut anyway.

As hard as he tried not to, Brendan still smirked. "I can't stand the sight of you. Get out of it already, would you?"

After traveling around with what could be described as an emotional team for so long, it was odd for Brendan to see this woman barely react to his kindness. Still, it was good enough for him to watch Alexia shift around to recall Lanturn, then walk past him without a word. Past the Eons, past the Magmas, until she finally disappeared into the room with the broken stairs. Everything without speaking a word.

"Something else, that girl," Brendan stated as Alexia shut the door behind herself. Turning to much more important matters, he continued walking towards the spruced up door, and the main prize of winning that battle. "Latias, Latios. Dawn, Sil-Uh."

It had never hit him before, but he only now noticed a distinct lack of blue hair in his audience. Likewise, Silver wasn't to be seen either.

"Ah, c'mon..."

With a growl of frustration, Brendan stomped towards the door. The somewhat confused teams of Eon and Magma were forced to follow him, despite not being rallied very well.


	26. The End, Part 2

There wasn't a thick enough line between wisely splitting forces to cover more ground and spreading a team out so thinly that the plan becomes a liability. With Dusk and the others having fallen into that trap, and Brendan, both dragons, and every Magma battling against Alexia, Dawn wasn't able to wonder about much else than if that line had been crossed.

The vent shaft they had fallen down failed to be long at all. After a short drop and a few minutes of crawling, Silver had pushed out a second vent cover and got into the closest thing to freedom that was available down here. Naturally, his female traveling companion wasn't far behind.

Once outside that and a quick session of dusting themselves off, they looked around to find a harmless-looking room—if it could be called that. Upon walking down a closed-in metal ramp, they came across stairs and a railing. Peering down that railing, they saw that their work was cut out for them; seven or eight flights of stairs needed to be traversed before hitting the ground floor. Being so high up, they couldn't accurately make out exactly what was waiting for them down there.

There was plenty of stairs in each set before they finally reached the bottom of it. After a stroll across the a catwalk, more stairs waited for them. That situation was going to be repeated nearly ten times, and so far, they weren't even done with the first.

"You know, there's one thing that Magma said that I find quite appropriate to this situation," Silver stated, breaking the unnerving silence that the two had suffered through since getting out of the vent. "Why are you here? You trust me even less than I trust you."

"Because there's no point in you going alone," she replied, pounding down the steps while trying to keep up with Silver's pace. "Brendan has more support with him than any of our other groups. And...besides that, you found a way to go down. We might find Dusk and the others if we keep going deeper."

"...Hmph. Not the best logic I've heard, but if that's what's going to get you to sleep tonight."

Aside from feet banging against metal as the two made their way across the catwalk, no other noise was made from either of them. When they began treading down steps again, Dawn thought of something else to say.

"Silver, I trust you a little more than you probably think."

The boy stopped in his tracks. He held his arm out to the side, preventing Dawn from running past him. With little speed but unrivaled intensity, Silver turned his head over his shoulder to see Dawn looking back at him. She didn't seem angry that she was being held up. "Hold it. _What_ was that?"

"You did unthinkable things to me," Dawn started off. "You tried hurting Latias, and my arm is still healing from being cut. I get terrified when I hear that you've killed yet another Aqua or something. But...those things all happened a long time ago. Face it, Silver, ever since we all came to Hoenn, we've teamed up more than we've fought."

Silver kept his contorted expression aimed toward Dawn, but remained perfectly silent.

Being watched by a face like Silver's for so long could only make Dawn nervous. She held her ground well, as far as she was concerned. "I don't trust you as much as I do my other friends. But I...I think I would trust you with my back."

With those words, Silver yanked his arm away from the wall. Still without talking, he began charging down the steps again, keeping his gaze focused on one stair at a time.

It wasn't until they reached the bottom of the staircase they were on that Silver's mouth opened up. He didn't stop running. "So you're the reason Dusk is screwed up so badly."

"What on earth does that mean?!" a flustered Dawn bit back, trying to keep up with him.

"You don't understand hatred, bitterness, resentment, and what all three can do for you. No emotion in the human body is stronger than the thirst for revenge after being wronged. It's the way we are. No one can escape that."

"I don't think I can agree with anything you just said..." Dawn muttered softly.

"Then agree with this. Stop containing Dusk. Gold once contained me. When I broke free from his little world of zebra-patterned unicorns, I became myself again and I felt _fantastic._ So here's something for you to face. You're holding Dusk back."

The girl allowed those words to sink in. They stayed in her head, constantly reverberating through her brain. Her movement slowed as her thoughts became too distracting.

Then, she laughed.

For one of the few times in his life, Silver was without a word. Quiet was one thing, but speechless was quite another.

"I guess we'll need to ask Dusk, huh?"

"...Insolent..." He snarled until it eventually became an audible growl. "Stay the hell out of my way!"

Much like his temper, his speed increased. And much to his knowledge, so did Dawn's. She had already calmed down from the laughter, bearing instead a frown of concentration on her face. When they neared the end of this long set of steps, Dawn released some of her focus and spoke.

"Silver...Remember that we're on a mission, okay? No matter what you feel towards any of us, let's deal with it once we get back to the surface."

The red-haired boy's mouth remained clamped. However, Dawn did take note that his speed slowed down a small bit.

-**OAM**-

"Sucks being the younger brother, doesn't it?"

Inside a building that wasn't constantly being pushed by the water's crushing force, two men did what they did best: technology. While Jake the Magma grunt was hammering away at keys on Max's laptop, May's brother stood watch right behind the chair that Jake was in. He had been nervous to leave his precious computer in the hands of someone he didn't know, but judging by the Magma's efficiency, Max felt his expensive technology was safe.

Both were safely inside the confines of the Petalburg City Gym. They remained in the room that the team had spent hours in before, when they were waiting for the entire event to begin.

"You don't need to tell me!" Max whined back. "No matter what it's about, May always wins arguments! It gets on my nerves!"

"Hmhm...I imagine. That's just the way of the world, I suppose," Jake returned, his words exiting his mouth with an assuring amount of sincerity and thoughtfulness.

Getting tired of standing, the Littleroot native slinked into the chair on Jake's left. He let out an annoyed sigh, during which a thought came to his mind. "Do you have an older sibling too?"

Jake didn't move his head away from the computer while he answered. "Biologically, no. But a few certain Magmas seemed to have adopted me, whether I wanted them to or not. It's fine, of course, though there are times, similar to this one, where it backfires."

"But you weren't being ganged up on to stay here..." he pouted.

"No, I suppose not. However, it's for the best. I was never much of a battler. What I'm doing now is what I'm best at. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Becoming intrigued by an answer like that, Max asked, "Huh? Why's that?"

Much like a habit of Max's, Jake poked the nosepiece of his glasses, though, with his head underneath the Magma hood, the boy couldn't see him do it very well. "Those in the field always get most of the credit. But perhaps you don't realize just how much damage can be caused without ever seeing a single one of their faces. For example..."

He pushed the laptop screen slightly to his side in order to give his lonely comrade a better look. "I'm familiar with Magma's digital security, so I was able to hack into it easily. Now that that part's done, I can disconnect the leader's use of the intercom system that is set up through-out every inch of the base."

"Whoa...So now he can't tell his guys what to do!" Max stated eagerly.

The childish, but excited deduction made Jake laugh. "Correct. Of course, I'm not finished yet. By doing just a few more things..."

Max completely forgot about wanting to engage in any battle as Jake continued mashing buttons, getting deeper and deeper into the root of Magma's system.

There was another laugh by the Magma; this one, however, came from his own thoughts. "Now, watch this..."

-**OAM**-

The trip for Silver and Dawn was silent; however, not very awkward. They both exuded determination to make it out of this situation alive, and that spoke enough that words weren't needed.

They both looked around their new surroundings. Behind them was the very last staircase, already triumphed over. The walls and floor of the room matched the steel-plated stairs they had just spent so long traversing. Multiple computer units that were running indecipherable scans—much like those at the Galactic bases—were shoved against nearly every wall. The exception was on the right-hand wall, which was home to nothing except a closed, blue-colored wood door.

Silver moved toward one of the computers, hoping he would be able to find anything that could be useful. Dawn bided her time by looking around the room.

"Okay, I'm not _great_ at technology," Silver suddenly confessed, grabbing a hold of Dawn's attention, "but this is binary to me. There's all these bars and scans going, but they're not doing anything."

"Sounds like you're expecting something worthwhile from them," replied his only human teammate.

"Hmph." He turned his head away, with his body following shortly. He took only two steps before stopping, and for a second time, managed to garner Dawn's curiosity. "I smell a trap."

"How observant," said a third voice from somewhere above them. Dawn was quick to recognize the poisonous female tone.

By the time the heroine and reluctant hero turned their heads skywards, two humans and a cat were already raining down from one of the railings. The female, male, and feline all landed unharmed in turn. Rather unsurprisingly, they had planned their entrance so it would block the two from reaching the door.

The Johto Trainer audibly growled. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Since you asked so kindly, I suppose we'll tell," Jessie stated, beginning the motto.

James continued, "But after we battle, you're going straight to-"

A booming and unexpected voice stopped the purple-haired thief from finishing his line. All five were guilty of looking around, unable to locate the source of the sound. It finally hit them, almost simultaneously; the voice was coming from the megaphones that were attached to all corners of nearly every room. "Attention! This is your boss! I command you all to stop what you're doing and shove your fingers into your noses! Do as I-"

There was static, which broke up the remainder of the urgent-sounding order. Nearly everyone in the entire building was simply blinking their eyes, unable to understand what was going on.

The megaphone picked up again, though not where it had left off. "Someone has hacked our system!" the same voice, though apparently different person warned. "As of now, I order _everyone_ to ignore what I say!"

Everyone resumed what they had just been doing—being too confused to do anything. The harmonious silence between good and evil ended with a keen Dawn. "Silver! I think that's..." Her words drifted off, but her sentence did not. She used a finger to point upwards, all the while staying in Silver's baffled gaze.

The boy remained in that state of mind for a moment. When his head wrapped around what Dawn was vaguely implying—the two cowards that had stayed on the surface, as he knew them by—his confused state lifted. He gave something like a short nod, then returned his attention to Team Rocket.

"...jail..." James said, meekly concluding the interrupted motto. "Well, that was weird."

"To say the least," Jessie agreed. "Forget about it. Right now, it's more important that we remove these two from the face of the earth!"

There was only one killer in the room and he was ironically on the heroes' side. While lifting a Pokéball up, he decided to flaunt his title. "I really prefer to know the names of my victims."

"That's Team Rocket." Dawn mirrored her unlikely ally's move by lifting up one of her Pokémon's homes. Since she was going to explain it for them, the Team Rocket members put their hands on their hips and smirked evilly. "They've been a pain since we first ran into them. They ended up helping us back in Sinnoh...but it doesn't look like that's going to happen again."

"'N why w'ud it?" the English-speaking cat cut in. "Team Magma gives us super-powered premo Pokémon! We din't realize how much we's were gettin' ripped-off in Galactic!"

"Things got a little iffy in the middle there, but they let us back in and we picked up where we left off," Jessie added.

"Finally..."

The word came out bloodthirsty. It sent a chill up everyone in the room, including Silver's own partner.

"**Finally**, after hanging around with such dead weight, I find someone that realizes weak Pokémon are a waste of lives." Silver observed each one of them, one by one. They were all just as nervous as the last during the intensive process of being watched. "Powerful, strong Pokémon. Those are the only ones that matter."

Cringing for several reasons, including the fact that Silver seemed to be admiring them, Meowth gently leaned back so he could whisper to his team. "Do youse two suppose he knows 'dat powerful and strong mean 'da same thing?"

"Silver..." Dawn muttered. Immediately after doing so, she bit her lip. At a critical time like this, she couldn't risk breaking what little compatibility she had with him; a rant about how bad of a theory that was might have that consequence.

Silver's smile didn't fade. "I'm going to enjoy this battle so much. Lucario!"

It wasn't his most dazzling moment, but Lucario, coupled with his countless scars, was once again granted fresh air. He resumed masterfully using his discipline to endure the pain that he had before the battle even began.

"_I'm trusting you, Starlight..._" Dawn kept her words to herself. She didn't want Silver to be aware of any potential problems, and Starlight herself was a breeding ground for the unexpected. Knowing that, she still chose it; this was an uncontested opportunity to prove to her friends and herself that she could control the Dark-type beast.

Her teammate continued smiling, which was already disturbing to Dawn. The fact that he was now looking at the Pokémon that was not only rare to begin with, but also an alternate color from the usual, made it even worse. "Hmm..."

"You didn't even get close to catching Latias," Dawn reminisced. "I'd love to see you try to steal Starlight."

Silver snorted, then silently glanced at the hand that had been injured that night. The brace had been taken off, but his wrist was still in the process of regaining its strength. He put it behind him and returned focus to the battle.

With shouts of, "It's you, Feraligatr!" and "Go, Tyranitar!" the opponents that they would be facing became clear. However, Silver wasn't as impressed as he was expecting to be. And he made sure that James knew that with a paralyzing leer.

"...What?!" the male Team Rocket member finally shouted.

He didn't respond right away. He instead continued to torture James with his eyes a bit more before saying anything. "There's only one thing that has a duller point in the world than weak Pokémon. A weak Trainer. If you don't have a clue how to battle, stay out of the way. Lucario, use Close Combat. Drop that thing in one hit. Now."

The Aura Pokémon set out to do as he was commanded. In spite of the unusual build of his feet, Lucario dashed towards James' Rock- and Dark-type. The feared beast looked to be nothing but an amateur as the blue dog pounded it with a long combination of physical attacks. After the string of thirteen different punches and kicks, Lucario knocked Tyranitar straight to the ground with a close-range Aura Sphere.

The signature attack wasn't ordered by him, but considering it had worked out well enough, Silver decided against reprimanding him for it.

Convinced that his treasured Pokémon was breathing its last before it even had a chance to get started, James shrieked and grabbed a hold of his hair. "Eeee! What did you do that for?!"

Silver eyed Lucario as he slowly paced back to his Trainer's side. "It's quite convenient that you had a Tyranitar," he answered. "Somebody else I know has one, and that's something I've wanted to do for a long time."

"You little runt..." James held up another Pokéball, even though he hadn't recalled Tyranitar yet. "Go, Weezing—"

"Don't," Jessie interrupted with a neutral tone.

James shifted his head her way. "Hmm?"

Not caring how rude it might seem, Jessie pointed towards Starlight. At the simple motion, the Absol barred her teeth and growled. "Blue's precious Pokémon that she stole from us over there probably knows Psycho Cut or something. It'll take Weezing out just as fast as Tyranitar went down. Let me get rid of that thing first."

"'Dat's where I got to say yer wrong..." The last member of the trio took a step forward, raising a claw in a threatening way. "Youse only gonna get to 'dat thing after I'm done wit' it!"

"Knock yourself out," Jessie stated, though rather unconfidently. "Feraligatr, use Superpower on Lucario!"

As both of the blue Pokémon moved in to tango with each other, Meowth had a standoff with Starlight. The cat's strong accent showed little signs of being intimidated by the infamous shiny Pokémon, much like the smirk he was also wearing. "Ev'ryone's waitin', sweetheart!"

KX6 was doing nothing in return but snarling. Everyone assumed she was just waiting for a command by Dawn. The only exception to that was Dawn herself. "_She certainly didn't wait this long to tear into Latias..._" her mind murmured. "Starlight, Night Sla—"

The second word could hardly be started before the Absol ripped off. Whether it was coincidental or not, the intended attack was the one that Dawn was trying to command. The scythe on the side of her head glowed black, proving that she wanted to nail her Normal-type opponent with a fatal Night Slash.

Unfortunately for her, Meowth had managed to perfect the skill and agility that he had shown in his battle against Latias far back in Littleroot Town. He nimbly dodged the attack like it was second-nature to do so, then proceeded with his own assault in the form of a Scratch attack.

Dawn knew just how unfortunate the evaded attack had been. Any other Pokémon would take the circumstances on the chin; Starlight didn't necessarily have that trait. Her Trainer had learned all too well just how easily frustrated the creature was, and what happened when her anger boiled to a certain point. "St-Starlight, shake that off! Um...Quick Attack!"

Silver jerked his concentration away from his own devices to tutor his partner. "Don't stutter. It shows weakness."

"R-right..." Dawn weakly agreed.

The disaster Pokémon made a hit with the blinding attack. With a comical "Oof," Meowth got hurled back a few feet from where he had been standing. Almost as fast as that Quick Attack had been, he hopped back on his feet. "Thinkin' you're hot stuff now, eh? Eat some'a 'dis!"

Dawn breathed a short, quiet sigh of relief. She had listened to her, meaning things were going well.

It appeared as though Meowth was set to do the same attack he had tried before. Raising a claw up, he bravely charged straight for the three-foot-tall dog. Just as she was getting ready to make a dodge of her own, the sharpest point of his claws extended. The Slash attack raked across her side, and due to the messed-up evade, she fell to the floor.

Starlight was shaking slightly as she rose back to her paws. Her fur was already red, but her eyes were only just now beginning to match it. Only Meowth could properly see how mad she was getting, but even then he remained too cocky to say anything about it.

"Be careful, Starlight!" her Trainer cried, "You shouldn't take another hit like that! Use Detect to give yourself some time to—"

It was past the point for that. Starlight used Double Team to create two clones of herself. Almost instantly after managing that, the synched copies all lunged forward, bent solely on returning Meowth's Slash with interest. That move connected, leaving the talking feline to stumble back a couple steps.

That wasn't the end of the chain, however. Her self-made companions dispersed into the air, leaving only the real Starlight standing. She started charging up the necessary power to launch a Razor Wind.

Meowth, though his face was now stinging from Starlight's claws, shook his head and got back into the battle. He saw what the Absol was trying to do and had little intentions of letting her go through with it. A piercing and drawn-out shout of, "**Heeeyyy!**" was overpoweringly loud, worsened by the fact that the room echoed it so much. Despite it startling even his own human companions, Meowth knew no other way to use Screech.

It was worth it; Starlight stubbornly didn't stop powering up her Razor Wind, but the sharp cry undoubtedly altered any amount of concentration that she had for the worse. The most sensible attack to follow that up with was Fury Swipes, something that Meowth didn't argue against.

With a single lunge, he attacked Starlight once on her side. He back flipped clear over her, also taking the opportunity to slash at her back. When he landed on the opposite side he had started from, he gave that portion of her body a one-two slice. His final attack made him leap and twirl to get into a position to bat directly at Starlight's face.

The shiny Absol was still reeling from the Screech, making the attacks post-that even worse than they were. The willpower she had to attack with Razor Wind failed her, much like consciousness did a moment later. She hated only her body for being so weak as she slinked to the ground before blackness finally took over.

"Hmph. How did that Detect go?" Silver asked sarcastically, coldly rubbing salt in the proverbial wound.

Dawn was close to crying, and it had little to do with the red-head's ignored question. She had been in control for so long, but as soon as Starlight lost it, she once again made mistakes that led her to defeat. The confused Trainer had little when it came to clues about what she was going to do with Starlight.

Luckily, her mind was given a break before any waterworks could start. Some sounds started coming from the door that Team Rocket was attempting to block. They clearly resembled footsteps, and they were growing ever closer to reaching the entrance. Realizing that they had to move or risk getting sandwiched, Jessie, James, and a panting Meowth all leaped over to the side.

The door was shoved, but it barely moved; it was jammed. As more attempts were made by the person on the other side, all eyes fell on the doorknob. Likewise, all sounds ceased, leaving the room in complete silence.

On the fourth try, the boy on the opposite side managed to barge through. He seemed to be surprised that he actually managed to get the door unstuck, and after a quick glance around the room, his confusion wasn't much better off. "Whoa...Jackpot."

"Gold!" Dawn cheered, now elated. "Are the others with you?!"

"Yeah, girl!" the perky Johto Trainer responded. "They're right down there!"

She gave an appreciative nod, but knew she couldn't travel through the same door Gold was standing in until the battle was finished.

"Get out of my way."

This time, Dawn quickly turned her head to see who Silver was talking to. It shouldn't have surprised her, but she was his target. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Silver, unfazed by her retaliation, calmly continued, "You go enjoy the field trip with the rest of the glee club. Meanwhile, I'll mop up the remnants of these worthless 'Trainers.'"

"But...Silver—"

"You can't even control your own Pokémon," he brutally cut in. "Why the hell would I need you around?"

Gold smirked, folded his arms, and leaned on the wall directly adjacent to the door. "Kindness through cruelness, eh?"

"The hell does that mean?" he bit back, glaring at his rival.

"C'mon, Silv." Gold shrugged. "Sure, you're making fun of the girl 'n all that, but at the end of the day, you're giving her what she wants, you know? I don't think you're as bad as you want us to think!"

Silver clamped his fist shut. "Words can't describe how pissed off I am right now. Are you _really_ willing to test me?"

Gold didn't respond, but it was already too late for Dawn not to be curious. She hadn't thought of a possibility like that before. However, the fact that they were in the process of infiltrating a building overflowing with enemies lingered in her mind, and she soon deemed Silver's reformation a petty detail to worry about.

She recalled Starlight and, without a word to the Rockets or even her own teammates, raced for the open doorway.

A few moments passed by, but still no movements were made or any words said. That is, until Silver growled. "You're part of the glee club, if you're unaware of that."

"Nah," Gold replied nonchalantly. "You and me teamin' up to take down the bad guys? How can anyone pass that up?"

Silver closed his eyes. Annoyed, he rolled his fingers across his own hand. "A hundred reasons just popped into my mind."

Jessie set a hand on her hip. "I can think of a couple myself."

"Bah," Gold spat, not sounding annoyed in the least. "Let's roll, Silv!"

-**OAM**-

"Uhh...Well, this definitely isn't what I was expecting."

Claiming the most fruitful of all his rewards for winning his battle, Brendan hadn't wasted much time charging for the room that Alexia was blocking, inadvertently or otherwise. However, it wasn't an entrance to their Pokémon storage, nor was it a shortcut to anywhere. In fact, there was nowhere else to go in the room at all.

The floor was made of wood. It didn't look like it had been refurbished, or even touched since it was laid down, but it appeared sturdy enough for Brendan to take a couple steps in. Though the walls had originally been painted yellow, time had done it no favors; most of whatever wasn't chipped off was stained. Anything else was covered in spider webs.

Five large bookshelves, stuffed to capacity with reading material, laid restlessly against the back wall. Just a short distance in front of that was a table, also made out of wood. Unsurprisingly, it was coated with at least three layers of dust.

Along with Brendan, both dragons and a few Magma grunts stepped into the room. Most of them didn't even bother doing that, though Archie at least stood in the door frame.

"What's this?" Brendan asked, despite not expecting an answer from anybody.

Latias was quickly intrigued and flew over to the table where Brendan was standing.

After taking a deep breath, he inhaled slightly, blew off all the dust on the table, and almost instantly regretted it. He tried coughing out the dust that had flown straight into his mouth, but that led to more giggles by Latias than success. After a playful, but still dominating glare by Brendan, she quieted herself and watched him grab the single book that had been laying on the table.

He flipped it from one side to the other, examining both covers. Neither side held any text, or if it did, age had worn it away. He ignored that and opened the book somewhere in its middle.

The pages were all yellow and some were even torn in places. However, the ink used to write words was written with such heavy pressure, it managed to remain completely legible. "'It was a dark day for Team Aqua,'" Brendan read aloud; he figured that Latias, if no one else, would care to hear it. "'Once more, our forces were too strong. While Aqua ran in fear, our intelligence corps managed to cross off a few more areas where Groudon may potentially rest. Soon, the world will be covered in land, and Pokémon and humans alike will have more area to live...'"

Brendan stopped reading. Latias squeaked, hoping he would pick up again. "Is this the big cheese's diary? Wait, look at the date..." The Hoenn Trainer set the book back on the table, but he seemed more interested in it than ever. "This was written ten years ago. Wait, check this out!" He used his finger to follow along an excerpt from later in the entry. "'Enlisting Tabitha was a wise choice after all.' Isn't he the guy that's—"

"Ten years ago..." a masculine voice boomed out from behind Brendan. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw Archie standing by him, his eyes also on the book. His mind, however, appeared to be on other things. "Ten years ago was when the battle between Aqua and Magma began to grow one-sided. We were running out of men, out of Pokémon, and out of luck. Meanwhile, it seemed as though Magma continued getting stronger. Perhaps it wasn't that so much as...we kept growing weaker. I didn't realize that Tabitha might have been behind it."

"What else is in here?" Brendan resumed flipping through the pages, stopping for a second to read a single line, then continuing after that failed to intrigue him. He didn't stop until he reached the final log written in the book, and by that time, Latios had also hovered over to see what was going on. "This is from six years ago. 'I no longer have reason to update this journal any more. The battle against Aqua is won. Groudon is found. This is the end of this book, but a new beginning to life.'"

"Six years ago..." Archie said, nearly repeating himself. "That was truly the end. It took them a mere four years to kill us while we were down. We've been enslaved since then. It was three years after that when I was promoted to an Admin and Magma's leader virtually swapped our teams. He took all of my men, and gave me in return Tabitha and everyone else at the other base."

"That doesn't make sense," Brendan accused. "Why would he buy lunch for you, much less make you his right-hand man? For years, you had been his worst enemy!"

"Who am I to guess at what that insane man does?"

"Point made."

He rushed through the previous pages with his thumb, seeing if anything in particular would catch his eye. He was caught off-guard when something did, making him use his other hand to go forward a few pages. Once more, as a favor to the Eons, he read aloud. "'Truly, I've been blessed. My beloved has given me a girl, born right here in the headquarters. A boy to take over my reigns would have been preferred, but this does not mean she won't be loved. She'll be raised in the surroundings a Magma should be raised in, and she will undoubtedly be an asset to our team.'"

"Ah...That was a distant sixteen years, if memory serves," Archie commented. "Rumors had spread of him having...multiplied, as it were. I was never sure if they were true or not, but it scarcely mattered to me. By the time his child would be a threat to us, the battle would likely be over. Incidentally, it was."

That was the first time Brendan had tuned the leader of the Aquas out almost completely. He was shifting through the pages, determined now to find his answer. "So did he ever get a boy? Wait, here it is. 'One year has passed since the birth of my baby girl. My beloved has once more given birth, and this time it was the boy that I wanted!'" he read, adding a little of his own emphasis at the end. "'Unlike the last one, I've already chosen a name for him. The next ruler of Team Magma will...be...'"

Those paying attention knew that it was unlikely the author had paused so much in between words. The fact that Brendan's entire body was beginning to shake also hinted that it had something to do with the storyteller. "What's wrong?" asked an alarmed Archie.

"...N-no way. No way."

-**OAM**-

Dawn practically flew down the steps, coming close to tripping over her own feet. The risk was worth the reward: being held in the arms of her in-tact boyfriend. "Umbreon!"

Compared to what she had needed to traverse just minutes ago, the flight of stairs that laid beyond the door wasn't notable. Six steps, taken two at a time, allowed her quick access into the hold of the boy under a beret that was awaiting her at the bottom.

Not even fully coming to terms that they weren't alone, Dawn didn't hesitate as she moved to kiss Dusk on his lips. That lasted for a few seconds, before a Gym Leader gave her a cold reminder that they were being watched. "...And I didn't even pay anything!"

She gave a leer to him, but hardly looked embarrassed that she had shown her affection for Dusk in front of others. She continued to prove that by not leaving his hug. "I was terrified something would happen to you guys...Well, not Roark, but the rest of you. What happened?"

"You probably wouldn't believe us if we told you," Dusk answered back, softly pushing her out of the embrace while still grabbing her arms. "We...made an exit a little ways back. We found our way here, not that we know where that is."

Tabitha put his hands on his hips. "'Made.' Yeah, that's a good word for it."

"Pika chu," Wizard chimed in agreement from his Trainer's shoulder.

It was May's turn to step up. She put a hand on Dawn's shoulder, though the fact that it was her unfeeling one made the gesture somewhat pointless. "Dawn, how about you? Are you okay? And where's Brendan?"

"Silver and I got split up from the rest," she explained quickly. "As far as I know, Brendan is still fighting that Alexia lady."

May nodded, but Dusk disregarded it. He looked to his side and spoke, "Nice to hear everyone's still in one piece, but we won't be if we sit around here any longer. We were just down that way and didn't come across much, so let's get through that door."

The girl turned to see what he was talking about and found a non-special door in the opposite direction Umbreon had been looking in. She wondered if it was the best idea leaving Gold and Silver alone, but the fact that they were stalling Team Rocket was beneficial enough. That led up to her claiming second place in line as she followed the leader right up to the door. The rest crowded behind those two, prepared for any sort of ambush.

That led them mildly flustered and disappointed when they found nothing but another hall.

As they stepped into the horizontally-challenged room, their frustration began turning to awe. Unlike the past halls that they had found, the walls on both sides of them contained something morbidly amazing: cells. Crowded blocks, separated every so often by solid stone, lined both walls the entire way. Preventing both entry to and exit from the solitary rooms were steel bars much too long and sturdy to break or climb over. The conditions suited the environment; everything was dank and barely lit, and thanks to all the rocks, the air was earthy and heavy.

Anger would have bubbled if any of them were aware that their own Latias had been trapped in one of these chambers less than twenty-four hours ago.

The team saved their energy for any potential encounters they would face, meaning that the only sound to fill the air was a brigade's footsteps and the sound of loneliness. Eventually, after looking at what felt like the hundredth jail cell, May shivered a bit. "How...How many people do you think they enslaved down here?"

"Ha!" the Team Magma connection of the group laughed. "We kept every single one of them self-righteous Aquas locked up here. For the record, this section of the HQ was built just for them! And they say we never gave them anything."

May grew quiet after that. Somehow, the fact that it housed only bad guys didn't help her feel much better.

It wasn't long before it was time to take a right-hand turn. Since he was still in the lead, Dusk was the one to sidle close to the wall and peek around the corner. By this time, it was quite unlikely that they were capable of doing anything remotely similar to stealth, but it would still be advantageous to know what was ahead.

His brow furrowed. He signaled for his team to follow him as he stepped around the border.

What they all saw was a single woman. She was clearly of a higher breed of Magma, as her outfit was different from that of other females. She wore black stockings and had black outlines sewn into her skirt. The obvious giveaway was inarguably the waist-long cape that laid limp against her back. To show off that same cape, her back was turned to the team. As far as Roark was concerned, she was some name that would never matter; to everyone else in the current group, they all recognized her silver hair, tied and abused by hairspray into a pointed ponytail.

Inconveniently, their meeting wasn't as desirable as Dusk was hoping for. The path in front of them was nothing more than a continuation of the cells, meaning that the imminent battle would take place in a rather cramped hallway.

"You don't know what you're doing..." Key stated matter-of-factly, still not turning around. She was using their echoed footsteps as a gauge for how close they were. "You _literally_ don't know what you stumbled into."

"Then, for once in your life, why don't you tell us the truth?" Dawn returned. "When I first heard that you worked for Magma, I didn't even want to believe it. You helped us out so much."

"Again, you prove my point. You understand so little of what's going on."

Key spun around, and for the first time, revealed herself without her orange contacts. Her eyes instead were deep brown, which matched Umbreon's. "Think about those times that I 'helped you.' Think about them long and hard. Do you see any common pattern with them?"

"You ran away before we could barely say hello," Dusk answered.

To that, Key raised an eyebrow and slightly cocked her head. "Impressive. So there is one smart one in your group. I'm not surprised that it's you, _Umbreon._"

"What are you implying?"

The highest-ranking Magma Admin ignored the question completely. Instead, she chose to continue on the last subject. "I never stuck around. I wasn't helping you. You would have been much better off to me dead. My mission was to assist the Aquas in a takeover of Sinnoh. We tapped our foot in the water a couple times and ended up coming across people like you and Silver. My alias as a bounty hunter was so that I could 'arrest' them before the police could. Then I could release them without losing anybody."

"You guys came up with _that_ after shoving us out?!" Tabitha exclaimed.

"Tabitha, that brings me to you." She folded her arms. "Your mutiny is insulting and unfounded. How did they convince you to betray us? You of all people are the most disappointing. You're one of the best Magma had."

"The best Magma had?" Tabitha mimicked her pose. He even took it a step farther by tilting his head up, granting him the ability to look at her down his nose. "Pssh. We ain't more than dog dung on the bottom of your shoe. It's been three years and we've done nada for you the whole way."

"What if we ran out of Aquas?!" Key snapped back, drastically raising her voice. "We would have no reserves!"

"Pretty rotten luck, eh? Guess you should have thought of that before forgetting about us."

She expertly cooled herself. Keeping her mind clean, she started to pace side to side while talking. "Almost everything that you've been put through since arriving on Hoenn didn't go anywhere before it reached my cold hands. I was the one who gave orders to those bumbling Rockets. I was the one who called the attack on Petalburg. _I_ was the one who came up with the idea of slaughtering Umbreon's reputation."

Umbreon clamped his fists shut. "Why don't you go on and explain the latter two?"

"How simple! They can both be answered with the same thing." She pointed her index finger directly at him. If a gun was in her hand, it would have been pointed in the center of his neck. "You. Both things were designed to draw you out. You proved that you would be a pain to the Aquas from the moment I saw you. You were supposed to die, get arrested, or stay in hiding. Any of the above would get you out of our way. If it came down to it, finding a Latias would have been worth the investment of time if Dawn proved to be just as much of a headache. But, I had a feeling that shutting you down would take her with you."

"You're mad..." May nervously said. She gained a little confidence when she continued, "You sacrificed people's lives just for your...your sick game!"

"This is hardly a game. We have our motives. Get Groudon awakened and do away with the pain that uncontrollable seas have caused."

Dusk took a couple steps forward. Dawn, slightly nervous for his well-being, grabbed a light hold of him. He didn't turn to her, but he obeyed her unspoken request and stopped moving. "And suddenly, this sounds familiar. You're doing this for the good of everyone, right? The only thing you're getting credit for is that you _definitely_ put more thought into this than Galactic did. That doesn't mean it's going to end any differently."

She giggled softly. It was hard to hear, even though they weren't standing all that far from her, but everyone else became unnerved by that small expression. "...Dusk. That's what they call you, right?" Key asked. "Let me ask you a question. Do you even have the slightest clue how ironic it is for you to be saying those words?"

No answer.

The Admin began walking towards them. This was alarming enough; the fact that she was reaching for her back pocket only made the area more tense. "Your mother works for us, Dusk. In fact, she's second-in-command."

May didn't find herself affected by the revelation that Dusk's mother's occupation was the complete opposite of a radio show host. She found herself distracted by a different detail. "Let me guess, you're first?"

"No."

Key reached Dusk. They stared at each other square in the eye. The boy showed little fear of what she might be holding behind her back, leaving him unfazed when she lifted up her opposite hand and poked his chest with her finger. Still looking into Umbreon's eyes, she answered May's question. "That would be this boy's daddy."

For a single moment, Dusk thought he had been shot. He had tried so hard up until now to hide his emotions—mostly anger and fear—behind a calm, collected front. That fell out the window; as his body became paralyzed, his mind likewise went numb. Many things clicked into place near immediately: why his mother never spoke a word about his father, why no one had ever been able to find him. It might even answer where his fiery temper came from.

The two women were the only ones in the group that knew Dusk intimately enough to empathize with how he felt as he heard those words. Dawn went as far as cupping her hands over her face in an attempt to mask her shock.

"And while I'm here," Key went on, much to the dismay of everyone else, "I'll go right ahead and mention that your sister works here, too." She paused for a second in order to smile. "Hello."

It possibly appeared that her words did nothing to Dusk. However, all it truly did was add to his already-speechless mindset.

No one said anything, which was rather fitting, since nobody knew what to say. As a result, friends and enemies alike stood there in total silence, watching each other. Oddly, the silver-haired girl's smirk didn't fade, and she similarly continued keeping her hand behind her back.

Almost a full minute passed before Dusk realized it wouldn't be a bad idea to breathe. While he did that, he also bowed his head and closed his eyes, assisting him in getting over his mental shock. One more breath later, he lifted his head back up to once more look Key in the face. "...You're my sister?"

"After walking over my dead body, go through that door and you can ask Mom and Dad yourself," Key replied, pointing a thumb behind her.

That gave him even more answers than he was expecting. The showdown was to take place in just one more room. While that was unexpected information from the enemy, Dusk also paid attention to the tone she had said it in. It wasn't the bloodthirsty Magma Admin they had just been talking to a minute ago; it was a closer resemblance to how they had known her through-out Hoenn: friendly.

"Maybe, just...maybe, there's a reason you survived this long." Key resumed acting unusually by looking down at her boots. "Antagonizing us, and eventually finding your way down here. Dad told me to give you this. At first, I didn't agree, but...You got me to change my mind."

She reached forward and grabbed her brother's hand, since he wasn't offering it to her. He did her the favor of keeping his hand open, at which time she finally brought her opposite hand back to her front side. She didn't open her fist until it was hovering over his hand. A regular-sized pin fell out of it. It was in the shape of an _M_, colored black with a red outline. Umbreon's mind once again crashed when he looked up to see his sister wearing a similar accessory.

"Would you...join Team Magma?"


	27. The End, Part 3

"Whoa," Gold stated, wiping some sweat from his forehead, "That was dope! I was on the edge of my seat, and I wasn't even sitting down!"

Team Rocket had not-so-soundly been defeated. After Dawn left, James had entered the fray once more, ensuring that the battle would be drawn out even longer than it was already going to be. The final result was a few Pokémon defeated from both sides. Silver's Electabuzz had two hands and a knee on the floor, panting heavily; his partner's Ambipom, however, was doing a handstand simply for the enjoyment of it. Either of them were more than the Rockets could vouch for, as the only Pokémon they had left that was outside of a Pokéball was a verily exhausted Meowth.

"Still, you got rawked like a phat beat!" Gold gave the thieves a solid thumbs up. "Good game! So, where you guys off to?"

"What's it matter to you, twerp?" a frustrated Jessie wondered.

The Johto Trainer itched the back of his neck. "Uh," he started, "I was just thinkin' that if you ain't got nowhere else to be, you could chill with us for awhile!"

"What?!" the Rockets shouted in unison.

That word hadn't only come from one direction, much to Gold's dismay. A similar statement of shock came from the person on his left, as well. This one also had a few sprinkles of anger on top of the surprise.

"We don't need your sympathy," Jessie coldly shot back.

James took initiative by reaching into his back pocket. The heroes could scarcely even see what it was before it exploded into an instant cloud of smoke. It momentarily covered the room, and as the odds favored, none of the three were around when the smog disappeared through the open doorway and up the stairs.

"Just tryin' to help..." Gold whined quietly, almost to himself.

Silver recalled Electabuzz. "Yeah, well, stop doing that."

To his eccentric teammate's confusion, Silver stepped towards the door without any other words but those. That didn't settle all too well with Gold, which made him lift his arm up in an unrealistic attempt to get him to stop. "Hey, Silv! Where you off to?"

"I'm going to go save the rest of the glee club from whatever trouble they managed to get into this time. Where else am I going?"

"Word, but..." He dropped his arm back down to his side, seeing that keeping it up wasn't even getting his rival to slow down. "They're a pretty tasty crew, so they can keep themselves hanging on. We should go find Brendan."

"Have fun," Silver granted as he started pounding down the small flight of stairs.

That left Gold standing in a barren room. The only sound for a few moments was the bleeps of the computers that were behind him. "...Weak."

-**OAM**-

In May's mind, there were so few things that could potentially end well if this offer wasn't treaded carefully. In fact, she couldn't think of anything positive about it. Her options would be to fight one of the closest friends she's ever had in a life-or-death situation, or somehow get everyone to retreat, and thereby letting Magma virtually win. She was having trouble figuring out what to do if she didn't want to select either of those outcomes. "U-Umbreon...Don't!" she pleaded, "What if she's making all of this up? You don't know that anything she's said is the truth!"

There wasn't a reply. Key didn't even acknowledge anything had been said. She was watching her brother and nothing was apparently going to change that.

"It's my word against hers, kid," Tabitha said, "but I've been around here for ten years, and I haven't heard squat about you."

"Neither had I," admitted a still-peaceful-sounding Key. "Up until a week or so ago. Mom, a person I'd never known in my life, came back to Magma. She explained everything to me."

There was a sound of one sniffle. Then footsteps. By the time Key looked up, May had already charged too close to react to her. Her only punishment was a somewhat weak shove. "Get away!" Much like her face, her voice was soaked in tears. "Get away from my best friend!"

Dusk's long string of motionlessness ended at that. He lifted his head up, but saw only the backside of May's. She was standing in front of him, as if to protect him from the female Admin.

"My best friend doesn't have a father! And if he had a sister, it wouldn't be _you_!"

"May..." Dawn said, exasperated.

She was ignored. May was focused on Key, who was now eyeing her back, not interested in hearing her tale. "It doesn't even make sense! Magmas are extremists who don't understand the consequences of what they do! They'll do anything in the world just to get what they want, and you kidnapping Latios goes to show that! When I think about qualities like that, Umbreon is the very last person that comes to my mind."

"It's interesting you say that."

That would have been a predicted response. What wasn't so foreseeable was that it came from a male voice that was behind them. Turning their heads around, and Key leaning to peek over the group, all were unfortunate enough to lay eyes on Silver. The red-haired Trainer was walking towards them at his normal, brisk pace.

"You apparently don't know your own 'best friend' too well," he went on. "Remember the desert? He _refused_ to go inside and was going to rip off anyone's head who told him to do otherwise. You're talking about somebody who flew to a different continent to rescue _a Pikachu._ I'd say there's some irony in not calling him an extremist."

Key wasn't proud of her words, but still muttered, "For the first time, I think I agree with you, Silver..."

"But that's different!" May countered, clearly thinking otherwise. "He did those things because his Pikachu is his friend, and the only reason he didn't go into Magma's base was because he believed-"

"Stop." Fittingly, Silver quit walking. He was now mere feet away from reaching the main group. "He believed. Sort of like Magma's beliefs about Groudon? The thing they're extremist for?"

"Since when are you on my side?" Key, now alarmed, questioned.

Silver was near infamous for his cold, dead glares. Though not for the first time, Key was now on the wrong end of one. "I'm not on your side. This kid doesn't know what he has in him. _Hatred._ He can become so powerful, and if he needs to jump from one trashy team to another in order to do that, then I'm going to give him a shove in the right direction. I want to see this kid at his best with my own two eyes."

The room fell silent. That only lasted a moment.

"So. We'll give him time to think. Meanwhile, let's you and me have a chat."

Silver whipped a knife out from one of his pockets. Sidestepping everyone that was forgettable to him, he dashed for Key while holding his weapon in a threatening position. She deftly evaded, pulled a knife of her own out from behind her back, and began a close-quarters brawl with one of her greatest enemies.

"Umbreon...you're quiet," May observed nervously, deeming her friend's condition more important than the knife fight.

Roark was of a different opinion. "Ten bucks on the red-head," he said, leaning and whispering to Tabitha.

"Oh, I'm totally taking some of that action," the Magma replied, offering a handshake to the Gym Leader.

Dusk didn't respond to May in any way besides closing his eyes and looking in a different direction.

The Hoenn Trainer's first response was a horrific expression. She turned to Dawn in hopes of assistance, but the girl was only watching her boyfriend with a disturbing amount of neutrality. Wizard was next, but he didn't turn out much different from Dawn. "Dawn, I...Umbreon, no..." she stuttered, looking at them both in turn. "I can't believe you're even considering this! Magma is the epitome of everything you're against! Just like Galactic! I..."

The boy trapped in the spotlight should have been thankful he wasn't looking. Two tears rolled down May's innocent face, breaking the heart of anybody that was watching it happen. Unfortunately for her, that count was nothing.

"Umbreon...You would turn against me? You...told me we were best friends..."

May could no longer take it. She lifted her hand into the air.

And smacked Umbreon across his cheek.

The hit was hard, meaning the sound was loud. Key glanced over to see what had happened, but her life depended on her to focus more on the ongoing battle with Silver.

Dusk didn't move, even though that was hard to do. His face was burning from the sting of the slap, and he wanted to bring his hand up to massage it. For some reason, none of his body moved, even when he wanted it to.

It wasn't very typical for a girl to tightly hug the boy that she had just slapped, but that wasn't about to stop May. She fell onto him, trying to block her tears with his sleeve, while also squeezing him like he would float away if she didn't. "Y-you have a choice, Umbreon...I don't! I'm sick of fighting as it is...I'm so sick of it all...Umbreon, you can't leave! Don't make me fight you..." Her hands clasped onto Dusk's shirt a little harder. "...Don't make me fight you..."

The poor Pikachu's mind was blown by this point. Dusk and May, two top comforters, were both occupied, which left him with only one option. He jumped for Dawn's midsection, and despite her half-aware state of mind, she still caught him.

Wizard looked up with bubbling eyes. She couldn't say why, but something about Wizard being moments away from tears caused her to put on a pre-emptive smile in hopes of cheering him up. "Chu...Pi ka?"

Dawn didn't know what he had said. Even if she had, she wouldn't have felt like answering verbally. Instead, her acknowledgment came in the form of a kiss planted above his nose, a warm hug, and slow, soft strokes behind his ear.

One person took initiative. Since he was closer to the rear position of the group, no one would have known he was doing anything until they heard a distinct clicking sound. The equally-matched combatants were too enraptured in what they were doing, but everyone else's head swung towards the only person in the room that once had the title of Gym Leader.

"Let's solve our problem," he whispered softly. Stepping to the side so Dusk, Dawn, May and Tabitha wouldn't get in the way, Roark lifted his gun up and closed one eye.

No one was able to accidentally spoil his impromptu sniping mission. All of them were too paralyzed from shock to do anything like that. Dusk and May, the latter suddenly without tears, were especially horrified—the last time they had seen Roark aim a gun was when it was aimed straight at Dawn.

That small click they had heard earlier had been the safety feature being ticked off. No physical object was standing in the way of him shooting a bullet towards the brawling rivals. The fact that they were constantly in motion didn't appear to bother Roark in the least.

He held the weapon perfectly still, going as far as holding his breath to make sure it stayed that way. The gentlest pressure was applied to the trigger. It wasn't enough to set it off, but it would assist him when it was time to do so.

"Roar—"

And that's when May's sentence was instantly overshadowed by a deafening pop.

The action had an immediate effect: everyone but the shooter himself stopped moving. With smoke billowing out of the barrel, he lowered his gun and released the rest of his breath. His expression shifted to mild frustration when not one, but both of the fighters jerked their heads toward him. "Aw, man. I never miss."

"Would you _watch_ where you're shooting?" screamed a snarling Silver.

Roark put both hands on his hips. "Hey, sunshine, I had two targets and wasn't going to complain with which one I hit."

There was one person left in the exchange, and she found nothing to be vocal about. Taking advantage of Silver's stunned state of mind, she gave him a hard kick that pushed him back a ways; however, it wasn't him that she wanted to land the final blow on.

Acrobatically, Key made a small leap to her side, lining herself up directly in Roark's path. Everyone else was ignored as she bolted forward, using her hand for half a second to re-grip the blade in her hand.

The entirety of the group had a front-row seat. Whether they really wanted to or not, they all bore witness as Roark failed to lift his gun up in time.

In the time frame of a blink, all they could see was Key standing in front of Roark. The thirty-some-odd year-old himself had enormous eyes and a shirt that was quickly changing from white to red.

The Magma Admin didn't move. She didn't even remove her hand from the knife. Instead she stood there, staring at Roark with a stone cold look.

Nobody moved, or hardly even breathed for a few seconds. Something inside Roark suddenly snapped. That was the only explanation the others could think of as to why he went from wide eyes and an open mouth, trying to process the pain he was in, to an unexpected fit of pained chuckles. "Guess...you got me...huh?"

"Guess so," she answered back, equal parts satire and coldness.

"But..." Roark moaned. The knife was still lodged in his stomach. "You kinda screwed one thing up..."

"And what did I scr—"

The roles instantly became reversed. Key hushed her talking as her eyes grew to the same size Roark's had been just moments ago.

Steel, one and a half-inches in length, was pushed up against her backside.

For what seemed to be the hundredth time in the past five minutes, the crowd's reaction was total suspense. May, specifically, was unable to take her eyes away from the visibly shaking arm that was wrapped around Key.

"Ya stayed too close," Roark said, finally answering Key's interrupted question. Using up what little strength he had left, he peered over his shoulder. His vision was turning black, but he still managed to make out the forms of those he considered friends. "Love ya, guys..."

May was grateful for only one thing: she had had the sense to turn her head and close her eyes.

The rest were forced to watch in complete astonishment as Roark pulled the trigger of his gun for the second and last time. The sound of the gun going off was emotionally scarring enough. Being left to watch two humans fall to the ground after that sound was downright traumatizing.

It was hard to find a space on the ground close to them that wasn't soaked with red liquid after hardly a couple seconds went by. Everyone, barring Silver, at least had water in their eyes, if it wasn't already leaking down.

Wizard jumped out of Dawn's grasp. He didn't move far afterwards, though. "Pika..." he called, looking at Roark's still body. "Pika...Pika!" When the smallest wave of blood began to near him, he withdrew a couple steps fearfully.

"Roark..."

With no one left to talk, the hallway was eerily silent. Though May's footsteps created noise, somehow, that isolated sound only made things worse.

While walking over to Roark, May undid the knot holding the green bandana on her head. She stepped into the pool of blood like it wasn't even there, and finally squatted down. "You were the one person...I thought I could never like," she mumbled, trying hard and failing miserably at not crying. "But, it turns out..." She sniffled, but once again, continued. "...you've made more sacrifices for our team than any of us. On Mount Coronet. Then here...Roark, we wouldn't be alive if we had never met you."

A part of May wanted Roark to start laughing. He would slowly get onto his feet, pained only in uncontrollable laughter, and make fun of her for how sappy she was being.

But that didn't happen.

"You were the greatest asset that the team's ever had. And I could never thank you enough."

It was ironic that her arms were shaking. Just like Roark's had been. She used those vibrating arms to softly throw her bandana over Roark's still head.

"Before," May said. She hadn't stood up yet. "Before we went into Magma's base in the desert, Roark called me up. He told me to call him sometime...just to talk."

Reminiscing, so soon after losing the person, unintentionally made it harder for her listener's faces to remain dry. Having not known him all that well, Tabitha wasn't as affected as the other two, but knowing that Roark had found a way out of the bet they had made brought some unusual, though still valid water to his eyes.

"Roark had just asked to be my friend. That's all..." She paused for a moment as she stood up. She also patted away tears with her shirt, somewhat hoping the others wouldn't notice her do it with her back turned. "That's all that he wanted, I think. That's why he was always teasing everybody. He didn't know how to make a friend." She closed her eyes as more tears threatened to bubble over. "You are my friend, Roark. Please rest in peace."

"That was beautiful, May..." Dawn complimented. She tried catching her tears with her own hand, and then made a bad attempt to laugh. "I'm sure Roark wouldn't have liked it, but..."

May opened her eyes to turn around, but as she did so, something caught her attention. Despite bleeding profusely, Key's chest inflated just a bit. The woman let out a small gasp, but replaced the surprise quickly with a solemn expression.

Throwing caution to the wind, she bent down on her knees and wrapped her arms around Keerasua's back. Seeming to pretend that she was carrying a box of motion-sensitive explosives, May was incredibly delicate in lifting the body up.

"What are you doing, May?" Dusk asked, hoping to have that determined leader sound in his voice instead of one that matched his bloodshot eyes. He got close.

"She's still breathing," was the calm answer. "I'm going to take her to Brendan."

"To finish her off?" wondered an unaffected, and deadly serious Silver.

The Hoenn Trainer sensed an aggravating amount of sarcasm in the question, but answered it anyway. "Brendan has medical supplies on him. We might be able to save her."

"_What?!_" countered a near-hysterical Silver. He stashed the knife back into his pocket, nearly cutting through it and slicing himself in the process. He was too angry to notice. "Didn't you just give a ten minute eulogy about how that idiot sacrificed himself to kill her? Now you want to help her?"

"Don't you get it?!" May stammered. For the first time since walking forward, she spun around to face the group, specifically Silver. It had become evident to them all that, in spite of talking so much, she had probably cried more than any of them combined. To further emphasize the point she was trying to make, May stamped her foot on the ground. "What comes from hatred? Death. That's all that ever comes from hatred! I don't _like_ this girl, but I don't hate her! In spite of someone _braver than you_ surrendering his life just so we can continue...That's no reason for her to die. No one should die. Why am I the _only person_ that thinks like that?!"

Silence by all. Not even Silver had a word to say.

"There is such a thing as defeating somebody without killing them," she went on. "But...I don't think you would understand that." May turned her back, but her legs didn't move. "All of you should go on ahead. I'll lead everyone that I can down here once things settle down."

"I agree," the Johto Trainer spoke up. "We'll finish this before the rest of the dead weight shows up."

Dusk took control of himself. His hand slammed shut into a fist as he said, "May, just remember that this is still the enemy's base. Please, do us all a favor and be careful."

"I will, Umbreon."

Dusk, Dawn, Tabitha, and Silver—the only four around that were left alive—watched May balance Key in her arms while walking away. When she was a far enough distance away, Dusk turned to face his team.

"This is endgame. The peak of Coronet. There's likely no option to retreat, and there definitely isn't an option to redo. So, I ask again. Any regrets?"

This time, no wisecracker was around to make jokes. The result was a dead quiet room, implying that Umbreon's team had little to no objections.

As his Pikachu reattached itself to his shoulder, Umbreon turned his body once more and wandered over to the last person in the room. The one lying motionlessly on the cold floor. When he got there, he bent down on his knees and reached for Roark's hand. The appendage was cold and soaked in blood by now, but Dusk wasn't as disturbed as he thought he might be.

Umbreon took the fallen friend's gun. For his own sake, the first thing he did with it was turn the safety back on. Finally, he gripped the handle of the gun firmly.

"This one's for you, Roark."


	28. The End, Part 4

The only way to go was forward. Though it wasn't intentional, the speed they were going at made it look like a competitive race.

As far as they were concerned, Key had at least lied about one thing: the boss certainly wasn't behind the next door. Instead what they found was yet another series of staircases, continuing to go downwards ever so consistently. The steps were surrounded on both sides by a rocky wall, and above them, a ceiling made of similar material. A linear path of dim lights helped illuminate the otherwise impassable stairs. All of those things tied together to create an authentic atmosphere for any tough battle that was ahead.

Nothing was spoken, for nothing needed to be said. This gave one of the four teammates time to think.

Dawn was trying to convince herself that Umbreon picking that weapon up was meant for nothing more than to give him a hand to bluff. No matter how drastic the situation would become, her boyfriend would never shoot anybody on purpose. She needed to tell herself that. If she were to be proven wrong at any point tonight, her earlier argument with Silver would turn completely in his favor.

The back of her mind was also worried about Wizard. With a single click of a gun by his Trainer, the innocent mouse might be affected by it. He might suddenly decide that winning was worth sacrificing anything, including morals. She didn't even want to think about her human friend adopting a stance like that, and seeing one of her favorite Pokémon follow suit would undoubtedly be too much to bear.

Depressing as it was, a corrupted Wizard was the last thing on her mind before being pulled from her thoughts. She was quickly reminded that this wasn't a good time to be lost in a daydream.

A door was in front of them. The hinged wood was entirely similar to any other door, being simply one color without windows and a doorknob on the side. To set the stage, a torch was on either wall to their sides, taking the drama all the way up to the maximum.

The pseudo-Roark that the team had filled his place nicely.

"Pssh. C'mon, Magma." Tabitha walked over to one of the torches and tried not to laugh. "We're gonna go fight a Pokémon battle, not a level sixty-five mage. I swear that the dramatics weren't nearly this bad when I was around here."

"Dramatic or not..." Dusk paused to look over at the same torch. His pet caught on to his emotions and quietly muttered its name. "...And it is painfully dramatic...This is it. Dawn, are you okay? You seemed a little distracted earlier."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

That wasn't a very convincing answer, and even Dawn knew that. She was left in mild surprise when Umbreon accepted it with a nod, turned to the door, and twisted the handle on it.

As if they were trained much better than they actually were, the squad of four poured themselves into the room, expecting anything that was unexpected. There wasn't an ambush, but it was clearly obvious that this wouldn't end well.

The room that they found themselves in, like other spots in this building, wasn't very abnormal by itself. Notably, the ceiling was unusually high up, hovering at least thirteen feet above the floor. Unlike the past couple rooms, this one was well lit with scarcely a shadow cast anywhere. A ways in was a set of stairs, gradually going higher and creating what seemed like a podium. A large chair, built for an evil mastermind, rested in the middle of that podium. To no one's surprise, the person they assumed to be the leader sat comfortably there.

The left and right walls both had a line of kneeling Aqua grunts in front of them. Each one had their eyes closed, but the mere presence of ten or more enemies suddenly overwhelmed the heroes with an unsettling feeling.

As for the only bad guy in the room worth distinguishing, his garb was unlike any other Magma. He wore a red- and black-colored trench coat, which fell all the way to his knees. The Magma's insignia was embroidered on the chest of the jacket. His legs were covered with generic jeans, resembling the darker color of his coat. His hair was a perfect shade of red, while the expression underneath it was perfectly lethargic. Though his gaze kept scanning across them, he seemed completely unbothered by any of the heroes.

"Torches?" Tabitha spoke up, looking at his ex-commander. "Really?"

The skinny leader disregarded the quip and kept his attention mostly on the other two males. "Hm. So, which one of you is my own?"

Silver quickly folded his arms and snorted. "Not in this lifetime."

The boy with the beret was the only one left. He helped the Magma reach a conclusion by speaking up. "So where's _Mom_ at?" he wondered, spitting the name out like it was poison.

To that, he looked around, as if just now realizing that she wasn't here. "Hm. A fine question. It's futile to be concerned over it, however. There are more important things to get to." He stood up from his chair, revealing his not-so-menacing five-foot-something height. His face, which remained barren of most emotions, was scarier than the rest of him was. "It's about time you met your father. My name is Maxie, son."

"Don't call me that..." he murmured with a snarl. Both Dawn and Wizard heard it, but weren't sure how to react to it.

Slowly, Maxie crept down each step. His hands were behind his back and his eyes were locked on Umbreon. "I was hoping to be far more excited about our meeting...Umbreon. I haven't seen you since days after you were born. It was my wish to that apparently useless Jirachi that you would walk in here by your sister's side. Given that your sister is nowhere in sight and you still carry..." He paused to glance around at Dusk's teammates. His gaze seemed to give extra attention to Dawn. "...the dead weight around with you, I can only assume that you've declined the offer."

"Pi-ka!" Wizard roared in response. Dusk was glad for it. He really didn't feel like talking to Maxie.

"It's a shame." He stopped walking. Considering his pace and the distance that had been between them to start with, he was still a decent distance away from the team. "My life, I've wanted nothing but a son. I wanted to be promised on my death bed that Team Magma would only grow stronger in my absence."

Catching Dusk off-guard, his father's attention diverted away from him and aimed instead toward Tabitha. "That was where you were supposed to come in," he continued. "With no...alpha dog to control the reigns, I needed to find someone that showed promise. I can say without hesitation that you were one of the best things to happen to Team Magma, Tabitha. I can't express how upset I am that it's come to this."

Tabitha frowned. "Yeah, if I was so great, why didn't you keep me around here like Key? No, you ship me off to the middle of nowhere and call it a day. You know what? 'Eff you, man, I don't even care about that anymore. There's only one thing I've been dying to ask you about."

For the most part, Umbreon's father remained completely unimpressed by any of that rant. When prompted by the last sentence, Maxie lightly nudged his head. "Go on."

"I didn't think I'd need to tell you this, but newsflash, buddy: Team Magma won. Not only did we win, we ended up getting Groudon, too. We've had that thing for ages. What have you been doing all this time? Magma's goal is literally dangling in front of your face. What's taking you so long?"

"Hm. I find it most intriguing that you continue referring to yourself as a Magma."

"Can it," Tabitha bit back, "I'll always be a proud Magma. It's just too bad this team's lost its touch. Don't change the subject."

"Fair enough," Maxie granted. The leader turned around, showing off the backside of his coat, even though the designs weren't any different. "The direct answer is this: Without my beloved, Team Magma lost its focus. Though I've had Groudon in the palm of my hand, without my other, it all seemed so...pointless."

Dawn couldn't help a glance over to Umbreon. She wanted to know what was going through his head while Maxie talked about his mother. To her surprise, physically, he showed little reaction.

Maxie turned his head to the side, letting one eye look at Tabitha. "She's returned. Nothing is in my way now. If my own son won't join me, then I have no use for him. A new beginning to the world will happen just as...Well, just as soon as all of you are disposed of. Is there anything else?"

The only female protagonist around clenched her fists. By now, her heart was beating quite noticeably inside of her, but she kept her fears restrained. "Yeah. I got something to say."

The unfamiliar voice convinced Maxie to turn around completely again. He wasn't too enthralled when he found out it belonged to that girl. "Help me out. Who are you supposed to be?"

"For your information, I'm Umbreon's girlfriend! I _personally_ know what he's gone through. We were both abandoned by our fathers and lied to our entire lives. I can promise you that I don't like you any more than Umbreon does, and I'm not stopping until you're taken down."

He stared at her for a moment, half expecting her to continue on. When she ended up saying nothing verbally, he shifted to his child. "You picked up a feisty one."

Before anyone could react to that very much, Maxie turned around and headed back up the stairs. When he reached the top, he yet again faced the group. "Unfortunately for you, my dear, I might possibly care more about your opinion if your boyfriend had joined Team Magma. As it stands, you mean even less to me than he does."

She had nothing to say in response, but her tension remained high.

"Tabitha," Maxie began again, "you should remember that I'm not a very patient man. So now, let's get started."

The party of four didn't realize things could get any more intimidating. When Maxie finished his sentence, all of the Aquas that were kneeling near the walls stood up at once. They narrowed their gaze, centering their focus on the pitifully low count of heroes. It only went on to get worse for Silver and Tabitha when they realized that they were the only ones that were guarding the left and right walls, respectively.

"Wh-what the—?!" Silver growled, simultaneously grabbing four different Pokéballs. For once, he had found himself unprepared. "Where's all the Magma scum that we brought along for this purpose?!"

Tabitha took hold of three Pokéballs. "Pretty bad time to wonder what could or should be happening, don't'cha think?"

Dusk managed to control his anger enough to see that this wouldn't end well. He turned his head to face Dawn, ready to delegate. "Dawn, you need—"

"Dusk, I'm not leaving you!"

"If we don't—"

The woman quieted him by reaching forward and gripping his hand. It was her numb arm; she couldn't feel his touch. Somehow, that didn't make the show of affection any less necessary for her. "You're scared, Umbreon. I'm scared, too. But you don't have to face fear alone." She glanced at her hand, trying to come up with a stronger argument, only to instantly do so. "Besides, May said that she'd tell the others to come down here as fast as they could. There's nothing I could do that she couldn't do sooner."

Dusk was unable to do anything but return Dawn's serious, but soft look back at her. Logically, her second point was sharper than her first. However, her opening words, and her admitting her fear, touched upon an emotion that he wasn't very familiar with. She was right—he was scared, even if his strong posture wanted to say otherwise. He finally had a chance to meet his father, only to be thrown in a life-or-death situation with him minutes later.

Dawn was the source of his confidence. If she was gone, he would never make it out of this alive.

A tight squeeze on her unfeeling hand was followed by an appreciative smirk. That smile dropped entirely when he turned to face his father. In contrast, Dawn's hand remained firmly in his own. "You're going down."

"You don't understand..." Maxie grumbled. "You may think our futures hinge on this fight, but you're wrong. _The world's_ future hinges upon this fight. The world needs Groudon's power, and I will be the one to deliver it!"

He knew that this fight wasn't a simple match against his son. The blue-haired, and so far self-proclaimed girlfriend of his wasn't going to leave them alone. Reacting accordingly, he launched two Pokéballs with a single hand.

Both were a bite of irony for Umbreon. Out of one came none other than a Typhlosion, this one bearing a much more hostile attitude than Dusk's own. Maxie was inarguably looking to show off Team Magma's literal fire power by using one of the most reputable of Fire-types. However, it wasn't the only heat-based Pokémon that appeared.

The second was the loyal and life-size canine, Arcanine. The main features of it—red fur, black stripes, and the golden, luxurious mane—were all intact, but not what caught Dusk's eye. That went to the collar around its neck. It was a brighter red than the creature's fur, so it stood out well. In the center of it was a little gold tag that seemed to have writing on it, but it couldn't be made out due to the distance.

Dawn noticed that something wasn't right. Her friend was far too focused on a Pokémon he'd never seen before. "Dusk, are you okay?" she wondered.

That question went without a reply for a few seconds. Even when it was responded to, it was a different topic entirely. "Nuclear?"

"Hmm," Maxie hummed, "You remember, don't you?"

"Nuclear...The thing you told me about back in Sinnoh somewhere?" Dawn rubbed her cheek with her index finger. "You said that it went after your father or something, didn't you?"

"Yeah..."

The leader tilted his head up, his face holding an uncomfortably large grin. "Oh, Nuclear found me. Then he stayed with me!"

Dusk snarled as his dad let out a few chuckles. "You took away my chance of having a father in my life...Then you took my dog?!" He moved his eyes to the side and made eye contact with his shoulder buddy. "He's all yours, Wizard."

One nudge of his head later, Wizard flipped through the air and landed on all fours in front of his master. A menacing snarl, brought on by all the unveilings of tonight, helped give him an intimidating image.

Silver interrupted with a strained voice, "I really hate to break this precious moment up, but I could _really_ use a hand over here."

The boy looked over. What he saw was a Pokémon from nearly every Aqua grunt that was on his side surrounding all of Silver's own. With an annoyed sigh, he found a Pokéball and released it in his hand. "Moonite, I can't believe I'm saying this, but go help Silver out."

A nod was all that was given. The Typhlosion even spotted the mirror image of him on the opposing side of the field, but paid to it no mind. Obeying his Trainer was more important, so he dove for the dog pile of Aqua Pokémon.

"Hey, what about me?!" Tabitha whined. "I wouldn't mind some back-up!"

Dawn found the ally Magma in a near-identical situation as Silver. Knowing it was her responsibility for not trying to get help, she ran through an imaginary list of her Pokémon to see if there was any she could spare. Two came to mind, so her hand quickly fell into her handbag to find them. "Tabitha, use these!"

The Admin turned his head to see two birds racing toward him on foot. Soon enough, a Piplup was on one side of him while a Torchic was on the opposite. Despite himself and the situation he was in at the moment, Tabitha laughed, "Great, these two. Thanks, Dawn."

Even though he was too focused on his fight to notice, Dawn nodded to Tabitha before returning to her own devices. Being the only one without a Pokémon on the warzone, her hand dipped once again into her carry-all and came back out with a ball. Solid determination was on her face as she launched the ball into the fray, having it explode and form into a Luxio.

It wasn't intentional for Dawn, but she soon realized that this was now a battle against Types. Electricity and Fire had few advantages or disadvantages over the other, but it was an interesting way to start the toughest fight they've had in Hoenn.

"This is the beginning!" Maxie cried. "Typhlosion, singe that Pikachu with Flamethrower! Nuclear, use your Bite!"

As the startling wave of fire came ever closer to him, Wizard keenly spotted a viable place to go: underneath. The Electric mouse hit the deck and flattened himself out the best he could, leaving the Flamethrower to harmlessly warm him up as it flew over him.

His similarly-typed companion entered into combat with a different mindset. As the oversized dog galloped toward her, the lioness proudly stood her ground. She went as far as slanting her front legs to crouch into a more threatening position.

Having successfully feigned a direct attack, Nuclear stepped off of the line he had been charging in, catching Sunnite off her guard. He pounced on the opportunity and leapt forward. By the time the Luxio knew what was happening, Nuclear's sharp teeth were sunk straight into her neck.

A confirmation glance was made by Dusk to Dawn, who nodded at him. "Wizard!" he called without any other command.

The two were close enough to not need anything more than that. The fire had only now ceased, and a sweating Pikachu jerked his head to see his teammate in trouble. Without hesitating, he rolled over once and got on all fours, then dashed closer to his chomping foe.

With a well-executed hop, Wizard nailed the landing and got on Nuclear's back.

"Thunderbolt!"

This was a rodeo that Wizard didn't want to attend. Even though he didn't loosen his grip on Sunnite, the Arcanine used most of his attention to try to shake the unwanted rider off of him. Wizard was relieved when a command was given, and with hardly any time spent charging, he fired off an overpowering bolt of electricity.

Nuclear dropped Sunnite instantly as he wallowed in pain.

"Thunder Fang! Go!"

Sunnite recognized that order from the voice of her own Trainer. Desperate to oblige, she did her best to ignore the pain from the Bite and dove in for revenge.

His Pokémon was being ganged up on, but Maxie didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. Even as countless amounts of volts was forcefully charged through his Arcanine's body, he calmly declared, "Nuclear, use Extremespeed to retreat."

The attack was heard and performed. With a surprising amount of grace, Nuclear did a quick 180-turn and vanished in a blur until he appeared skidding next to his owner. Meanwhile, Sunnite was largely unaffected by the outcome, but a certain Pikachu wasn't. He made a tumble that wasn't prepared for almost as soon as Arcanine had first moved, causing him to crash into the floor.

Groaning, he rubbed his head while starting to sit up. A grateful "Pika" was heard when his own partner offered him a helping paw.

An evil mastermind would be one to ignore such a cute act in favor of something more statistical. Umbreon's father proved to be no exception to that as he stared deadpanned at the scene for barely a second, before granting his opponents, "I didn't expect you to so readily attack Nuclear."

Dusk dipped his beret down, though his eyes never left the leader's. "The only thing Nuclear does for me anymore is remind me of you. Wizard, Double Team!"

-**OAM**-

Brendan jerked around. Everyone else quickly did the same, since it was difficult to not be alarmed when the door behind them suddenly got shoved open.

All that was there for them to see was a shattered girl, soaked now in a disturbing mixture of blood and tears. And yet, she was much better off than the person she was carrying. That one wasn't even moving.

In return for showing her vulnerable self to a crowd, she was able to relax in the gaze of two friends, Brendan and Gold, along with many more neutral stares. In spite of her philosophy, May's confidence was still near the lowest it had ever been, even while she was surrounded by those that she absorbed willpower from. Softly she walked in, turned to her side, and laid the limp corpse on the wall near the door. When she pulled her hands out from behind Key's back, May found her arms trapped inside an unwanted blanket of blood.

To say this was confusing for everyone else wouldn't have been correct. A better term would be outright strange. Witnessing an ally, all by her lonesome, backtrack just to carry the body of an enemy, left plenty of questions. May was left somewhat startled when the first one that got to a question was the buffest man in the room, the same one that used to lead Team Aqua in their conquests. "What's happened, child? The others—"

May wordlessly broke his sentence off, doing so instead with a nervous shake of her head. "Th-they're fine," she stuttered, doing all that she could to repress the tears that had fallen for so many continuous moments now. "But they do need help."

"And that's our cue," Archie spoke again. He rallied his underlings with a triumphant voice, "Men, we've stayed idle long enough!"

With a nod, Archie and his entire gang bulleted for the door. Some accidentally brushed May's back as they passed by her, but even if she were in her normal state of mind, she wouldn't have scolded any of them about it.

There was only four left in the room, three of which were alive.

Gold, for once, was unsure of his own steps as he trudged his way closer to the females. "What happened here?"

May's eyes glazed over. Her lips trembled as she looked at Gold, and parted when she turned toward her boyfriend. "Brendan, please...p-please help her."

The Hoenn Trainer always kept a first aid kit in his backpack. That's why May nearly bubbled into a breakdown when he didn't even make a reach for it. Ignoring that accessory completely, he took a couple steps forward and knelt down on a knee. He could see the girl's physical condition, even from the unfavorable distance he was at. He didn't know how to tell the sweet-hearted, breathing girl the horrifying truth. He didn't realize how much he told her by just clamping his eyelids shut.

"N-no...she can't..."

Brendan sighed. It was time to own up. "She was shot through the lung, May. Medical science can't do much for her, so what chance does a guy with white hair who happens to have a first aid kit have? Whoever took her down didn't want her getting back up." He paused briefly before shifting his serious gaze into May's own. "Please don't tell me you were there to see this happen."

May's head ducked down. He knew the answer already. "It was worse than it looks now."

Brendan sprung back to his feet and managed to get his arms around his girlfriend within a fraction of a second of her having a hysterical breakdown. Muttering "Shh," helped to quiet her, but no man was strong or clever enough to do anything about the waterfall of tears.

Desperate, he turned his head around and spotted Gold. As close as the two had gotten, this was one pain that the Trainer from Johto didn't want to share. He'd already twisted on his heel and showed Brendan his back. His arms were at his hips and his eyes, the ceiling.

Not blaming Gold for having nothing to offer, Brendan returned his head to a more natural position and gave May a kiss on her notably bandana-less head. "C'mon, it's all right..."

-**OAM**-

The fight was going surprisingly well. Every blow they took resulted in an even stronger counterattack. That wasn't good. That meant that Maxie was toying with them.

There was no other explanation for how a Pikachu and Luxio, both of which were moderately well-trained at best, could go toe-to-toe with two fully evolved Pokémon, ones that had likely been put through an unimaginable training schedule. No one could possibly respect Maxie as a leader if this was the best he could do, and no one realized that sooner than Dusk and Dawn. Neither of those two were concerned with the battles that were still raging on at their sides. If something went wrong there, it was an instant game over anyway.

The fighting creatures in the main brawl showed signs of exhaustion. Any hit, the Trainers mutually, though silently decided, could be their last. Oddly, they had come to that decision three rounds ago, and every Pokémon still kept on fighting.

"Typhlosion, Fire Punch. Nuclear, Fire Spin." Maxie's voice was static, appearing to be totally unfazed by his Pokémon's near demise. Just another reason to assume he wasn't going full-power.

Dusk believed he had it the worst. Wizard was his partner, irreplaceable and dangerous to those on the wrong side of him. That didn't help the fact that his body is too frail to take many hits. "Wizard, dah..."

That wasn't an attack and, predictably, didn't help the situation. Instead, his own partner took the initiative. "Sunnite, now!" she said. "Jump into Typhlosion's path! Wizard, follow her!"

Umbreon wondered where the bossiness came from, but didn't yet have time to question it.

In spite of plainly hearing the plan, Maxie's charging Fire-type did nothing about a lion unexpectedly appearing in his path. It was quite possible that he didn't even see it. The stampeding wolverine tripped over the ducking Luxio, losing his balance and concentration alike.

It was temporarily a good thing for Typhlosion that Wizard, even though he was panting, had listened to his Co-Trainer's command. The beast used the mouse as a type of cushion against crashing into the hard floor. Unfortunately, the positive points end there. Half parts instinct and knowledge went into Wizard's next Thunderbolt, frying the Fire-type while barely doing a thing to his Electric-type friend that was still in physical contact with the target.

The Fire Spin had been doomed to hopelessly miss the moment that Dawn's Luxio, the intended receiver of the attack, had started that chain of events.

Yet again, Magma's leader was entirely indifferent toward falling into what could be considered a childish trap. With minimal effort and a lack of care, he lifted a Pokéball up and stated, "Enough." He recalled the almost motionless Typhlosion inside, which serendipitously opened a window for his last Pokémon.

Nuclear sprang forward, no doubt using some form of his ExtremeSpeed. Tucking his head inwards, he rammed into Sunnite, sending her flailing and rolling across the ground. When she finally came to a stop on her right side, she didn't even make the effort to stand back up.

Pokémon are quick to pick up traits from those who own them, and Wizard was hardly an exception. With a sense of revenge that reminded Dusk of himself, Wizard intended to make the long-lost Pokémon suffer for making him witness the beating of his own friend. A second solid Thunderbolt quickly crept up to Nuclear, eventually engulfing him. Every nerve in his body wanted to cry out in pain, but they never got the chance to. Just like before, Maxie withdrew the dog.

It was a little bit disappointing that this truly was the best outcome that the pair of teenage Trainers could have hoped for. They raced for their respective Pokémon, knowing well that leaving them in to fight could turn this already bad situation into a tragedy. After a hug, Dawn let Sunnite get more peaceful rest inside of a Pokéball. Dusk scooped his tired mouse into his hands and walked back to his battling post.

"Pi...ka?" Wizard asked his human friend.

"You did even better than your best," Dusk quietly reassured him. "Just stay low for now."

Maxie dropped Nuclear's Pokéball into his pocket, decidedly having the fate of being forgotten. Afterward, his master put both hands behind his back. "I have one question. For the both of you. At this point in time, do you still think you can win?"

Neither answered right away. Dusk wanted little to do with the man, and Dawn couldn't come up with a response. "We're getting there," she replied after a few seconds.

"And what do you suppose will happen to you if you lose?"

Tabitha was wrapped up in his own endeavors, but still alert enough to hear the question. The smirking Admin twisted his head toward Maxie. "That's two questions, ain't it?"

Maxie glared at the one he once called his own, but his attention was fated to be diverted. Surprising everyone in the room much like he had been surprised minutes earlier, a hulking force barged the door open with his shoulder. Archie's henchmen swarmed the room, instantly preparing to battle against the hoard of Aqua grunts that were in the room.

Silver looked side to side. Both spots held mandatory reinforcements. To keep pride in the personality he called his own, he snarled, rather than expressing gratitude. "It's about time! I hope we aren't _bothering_ any of you."

On the opposite side of the spectrum was Tabitha, grinning ear to ear as he looked at just a couple of his hooded companions that had come to his aid. "Synth, Wrench! Having fun down here yet, guys?"

Before addressing the man he wanted to address the most, Archie wordlessly moved deeper into the room. When he reached both Dusk and Dawn, he set a hand on one shoulder of them both. The grip was rough, antagonizing; yet, somehow comforting. "I saw what happened," he spoke, appearing to address neither more than the other. "Your friend did a valiant thing."

Nothing boosted morale quite like being reminded of a fallen teammate. Dusk's head shifted away, and Dawn bit her lip. As it was, they needed to remind themselves that it was Archie's thoughts that counted.

Archie felt no remorse for discouraging the heroes, if he even realized he had done it at all. He now focused on Maxie, who politely kept quiet since the intrusion. "Maxie. I was worried I wouldn't get to see you tonight."

"Surely it would have been a shame," Maxie stated, not a bit impressed. "Or something like that. Do you expect me to be surprised that you're involved in this rebellion?"

"No. I expect you to face me, rather than basing your victory on the feat of besting two children."

The commander of all Magmas laughed. The hearty sound nearly carried itself through-out the entire base, stopping in its journey only because it was scientifically impossible. Still, it caused the effect it needed to. A large smile lingered as one of the most unsettling features the man had in his arsenal. "Those are remarkable words. However, you're forgetting that these children hold claim to something you don't. They haven't lost to me yet."

At the same time Archie's fist clenched, so did his teeth. "You're a fool if you discount me on the grounds of a loss that happened six years ago."

"Am I," he wondered out loud, even though it didn't sound like much of a question to any of them. "Archie...I don't want to fight you. These kids, and Tabitha..."

The three that were watching him jumped back in surprise when a vein made itself visible in his forehead. His nostrils flared in anger, and the innocent oxygen that was in his hand got crushed as he made a cynical fist. "I want all of you at once! It will be _far_ simpler destroying all of you together than doing it individually! Order your men to leave the base, Archie, and I'll do the same. Our battle will be decided the way it should have been six years ago."

"A five-on-one?" Tabitha asked, still keeping in touch with the conversation. "You're even cockier than I recall leaving you at, Maxie."

"That's precisely the arrogance that I want so badly to decimate." Maxie cracked the bones in his fingers. It was loud enough to sound like he was breaking them, but his apparent lack of pain showed the resistance they weren't so lucky.

"There isn't a person in existence that's less trustworthy than you, Maxie," his rival assured him. "But Tabitha has shown me that Magmas have a certain sense of honor when it comes to the battlefield. Everyone, return to the surface," he said, now referring to his cloak-wearing partners that had only just arrived. "Fight with the Aquas no more. They aren't your enemies. Follow them to the elevator."

The action had been intense, and Silver more than the others were more focused on their battling than what the others had been squabbling on about. Archie's tone demanded attention, however, and when the order sunk in, everyone looked toward Maxie. The nod that the leader gave told everyone that for the first time in recorded history, Maxie and Archie came to an agreement.

More than anything, it was awkward for the rivaling teams to return their Pokémon to their portable homes in the face of their opponents. With no one to hide behind, they loyally obeyed their respective leader and started to file out of the room. Dusk, Dawn, and Silver all watched in amazement as alternating colors of red and blue poured out of the room civilly, as if they hadn't just been at each other's throats. The former two, still with their mouths slightly ajar, recalled the loose Pokémon they had provided as backup.

"Quiet at last," Maxie mumbled as the last grunt to leave shut the door behind him.

They didn't appease his comment with the reply it so desperately wanted.

"Archie," he called once a moment of silence swept through the area. "You and your men..." He paused to glance briefly at Dawn. "...and woman...are seconds away from being humbled. Please, do share what's on your minds."

Aqua's long-ago leader folded his arms. As he did so, the four soldiers surrounding him each lifted a Pokéball up and held them in the most threatening poses that a dull, harmless orb could be held in. "There are two things on my mind, Maxie. One is your inevitable downfall. The other is that perhaps you are correct about one thing. Until your downfall arrives, it would be wise for you to stop thinking me as the leader. That honor goes to Dusk."

Once again, Maxie took some time to let that process. It was unexpected, though he couldn't figure out why. Perhaps it was his near life-long rivalry with Archie that made him assume that he led the rebellion, or how he had dove to protect Umbreon from being the main target just moments ago. Either way, it wasn't very important, but did require a remark. "My son is the central core of your miniature army? I shouldn't be so surprised. We Magmas have a natural ability to lead."

Dusk only had two hands; one of them was holding a Pokéball, and the other was cradling a Pikachu. Since he couldn't clench his fingers into a fist with a metal sphere in it, he did it with the other one instead. Wizard didn't like the sudden bump of his Trainer's knuckles poking him, but he understood why it had happened. Umbreon still didn't want to talk to his father, and this was one way that he dealt with anger.

"All of you and this forsaken world have one thing in common. Both of your times are up." Maxie dug into the depths of his own shirt, starting his expedition from the top. The trip didn't last long. He yanked a Pokéball that had been contained between his shirt and his skin. It was attached to a black string that was roped around his neck. The accessory had been completely blocked from sight by the long collar of his trench coat.

Dawn was the first to recognize what Pokéball it was, but the others soon followed. The _M_ on the front was unmistakable. A Magma Ball.

He unequipped the necklace, then did the most frightening thing imaginable. He grinned. "Behold. Groudon!"


	29. The End, Part 5

An animated flash of light broke free from the ball. It traveled forward a few feet before deciding to take a more stable form. It was far too difficult to notice anything else before its size; it didn't stand lower than any two of the Trainers put on top of each other. Black on red with a gray belly. The color scheme and its size were intimidating, but neither matched up to the fright of what looked to be hundreds of sharp teeth inside of its monstrous mouth.

As it released a deafening growl, the room was suddenly blasted with a wave of heat. The temperature instantly rose by twenty or thirty degrees, forcing the humans to back off in the hope of escaping some of the overwhelming warmth. Silver, in his dark, heavy clothing, was the most effected, but he managed to hide his discomfort well.

"Son of a..." he muttered underneath his breath.

The only person not bothered much by it was Groudon's master. He found only amusement in his enemies' reactions. "It's glorious..." he gloated, completely ignoring a bead of sweat that ran down his cheek. "After your pitiful show of force here is stopped, the entire world will be bathed in this heat. Relentless until the earth is dry."

The almost dinosaur-like figure that was Groudon's own roared one more time.

"Only now do I realize just how messed up in the head you are," Tabitha stated. "I've done just as much research into that thing as you have, and I ain't scared of it."

"As much research...?" Maxie started quoting. "You cretin. I was learning everything about Groudon before you were born."

"Yeah? Then tell me when it crossed your mind that using a Ground-type in a base like this was a good idea." The Admin pointed at the ground. "If you use any of its moves, this base is going to crumble and we all go squish. That is, if all the water doesn't kill us first."

While those two argued, Dusk was relieving his backpack of items he had no current use for. After tossing enough items on the ground, he was able to put the exhausted Wizard inside. It was the only way he could protect the weakened Pikachu from heat.

When Tabitha reached the part about using Ground-type moves, however, he paused instantly and looked at the Pokéball he was still holding on to.

Maxie obviously wasn't concerned with his son. Instead, he took to laughing at his ex- right-hand man. "You overestimate yourself. Groudon doesn't need to use his specialty moves. I hear they call that overkill."

Of everyone, it was odd that Archie was the one needed to interject. He swiped away from perspiration from his beard before speaking. "Groudon's power has seeped into Maxie's head. Arguing with him now will be pointless. As if it ever wasn't."

Dawn was the quietest one. Just minutes ago, she had given a speech about fear; now she had forgotten every word of it. She tried convincing herself that Umbreon was her strength, but it wasn't enough. She had faced down two legendary Pokémon not unlike this one just a week or so ago. She remembered being terrified then, and this time, there was no option to run.

No option to run. So she had to fight, then.

The Pokéball in her hand popped open, allowing Berlitz to feel the overheated air. She winced as she first witnessed it, but got a hold of the situation quickly.

"Dawn has the right idea," Dusk said, fixing his arm underneath the second strap of his backpack. "We can't stay down here forever. So let's end this sooner rather than later."

"I couldn't agree more," Maxie chimed in.

As Dusk was about to release his Pokémon, he became startled by a chunk of black rock hurled not far from his face. It had come from his left, and the trajectory it was flying at meant that it was going to collide with Dawn's Misdreavus.

Before it could be stopped, it nailed Berlitz in her side. After a confused chirp of, "Misdrea?" the Pokémon itself began glowing white.

Reasonably, Dawn was the most concerned. She glared past Umbreon and Archie, having a good feeling where it had come from.

She couldn't get any words out, though. Not before Silver dropped his arm back to his side and spoke. "It's a Dusk Stone," he stated like it was an obvious fact. "You're welcome."

Dawn wordlessly turned her head back around. Her eyes met with Berlitz's new form. It was similar to her previous one, but bigger, stronger-looking, and her personal favorite part, more purple. There was no way to go back now, and Berlitz realized that before Dawn did. She looked at her Trainer and nodded. "Mismaagius," she uttered.

Umbreon, however, had a problem with it. Not with the thought, but the action. He distinctly remembered Silver jumping on him after he asked why his Electabuzz wasn't evolved. It seemed rather hypocritical that Silver evolved one of Dawn's Pokémon without even asking. Now, however, was a bad time to scold him for that. It could wait until they were outside. For right now, he returned to his original plans and let his Buneary out of her Pokéball.

"What? Nothing to add?" Umbreon asked after a noticeable lack of commentary from Silver.

Silver gripped his own Pokéball a bit harder before responding. "I was expecting you to rely on useless Pokémon, and I was right. If you want to impress me with your stupidity, you'll have to do better than that."

The arrogant Trainer was next. His Pokéball contained the mythical Dragonite, the same one he used in Petalburg. With nothing left to be said, Archie and Tabitha sent their own Pokémon into the fray. A blue- and white-colored manta ray appeared in front of the former, while a purple, four-winged bat defended Tabitha.

"At last," Maxie grunted, "Groudon! Destroy them all!"

In what was either a test of their skill or a moment of blind anger, Groudon made a sweep with the back of its hand across the field of its enemies. It failed miserably. Dragonite and Vesera managed to duck underneath it, while the remaining three simply hovered or flew over it.

"Dragonite, be useful for once. Use Hyper Beam," the Pokémon's Trainer commanded.

Archie wasn't about to let an opportunity go by. Teammates were one of the few advantages they had over Maxie right now, and he didn't see a reason not to use it. "Mantine! Back him up with Water Pulse!"

Dragonite wasted as little time as it could. When it finished charging, the Hyper Beam was loosed. In response, Groudon lifted its arm up to block the attack. To the Dragon-type's frustration, it worked well enough. The Hyper Beam didn't seem to do much at all apart from sliding the monster back a foot or two. The only thing more pitiful was Mantine's attack—the extreme heat evaporated a considerable amount of force that was behind it. Groudon didn't even realize it had gotten hit with anything else.

Being the vaguely-decided leader, Dusk thought it was his place to speak up. "I have an idea how we're going to finish this thing off, but we have to get it weaker. Force isn't getting us anywhere, so we need a tactic that doesn't involve pounding on it."

"Oh, do share, son," Maxie prodded.

Umbreon cursed to himself. Unlike leader, that "son" title is one he didn't crave so much. He forced himself to ignore Maxie. It wasn't worth it. "Dawn, go in high. Vesera, Ice Punch!"

Besides herself, Dusk was more or less surrounded by teammates that were enemies. Still, she appreciated that he had asked her for help. Though still fighting fear, the blue-head pointed towards Groudon's head with a tinge of determination. "Berlitz, blind it with Shadow Balls!"

Even if the last combination attack hadn't done much at all, Maxie recognized that this one at least had some strategy to it. Vesera had to struggle a bit to get her Ice Punch going in so much heat, but instantly dashed forward when she was ready. When her Ghost-type partner saw she was moving in, Berlitz began her own mission. A volley of dark orbs was hurled towards Groudon's head.

The room was a tight fit for the large beast, which made evading almost impossible. Without a way to block in both places at once, Groudon chose to shield itself from the Shadow Balls. Its guard, however, was thrown off when a freezing, if not tiny fist lodged into its torso. After that distraction, Groudon's arm dropped and it proceeded to get hit by the rest of Berlitz's attack.

Vesera landed on the ground, wearing the cocky smile she generally always had on. "Buneary."

Despite the success, Umbreon didn't look pleased. He lowered the brim of his beret, casting shadow on some of his focused expression. "Lucky shot. We won't be able to do that again."

Magma's leader once again took it upon himself to voice his own stance. Realizing that they weren't going to go down so easily, he hid his hands behind his back. It was a self-taught tactic to improve his own concentration. "It's unfortunate you won't join Team Magma. You and I agree on so much."

"Yeah, yeah," Tabitha cut in, "It's my turn, baby! Crobat—"

"Hardly!" Maxie's face scrunched up in disapproval. "Groudon, remove that thing!"

"After all the BS you put me through? Let's do this!"

It was a nearly cliché battle between speed and power. Groudon knew little else but destruction while under the influence of the Magma Ball, unlike Tabitha's Crobat, who was on top of its game. A flame sparked on the legendary Pokémon's fist before it swung it. Crobat dodged, inciting the need for its opponent to step forward to try again. The entire ground shook a bit as it did so. Simultaneously, Crobat's life got harder. Groudon was within closer range, but no less angry. It swung again with its right hand, then with its left, the bat barely managing to dodge them both.

When Crobat finally had the chance to look straight ahead, it didn't like it so much. Groudon's face was in front of it. Its large mouth opened, leaving little time to react in between that and a scorching Fire Blast. Opportunity's window was too small—Crobat took the intense red-hot attack dead on.

The torched creature was pushed backwards until it unwillingly found the wall. It barely managed to scrape itself off, and proceeded to tumble to the ground. The Fire Blast, unified with the already-unbearable heat that Groudon was exuding, dried up all traces of Crobat's willpower.

With only a gasp, Tabitha bolted over to his partner. Crobat's skin color was unnatural after the roasting. The Admin bit his lip and forced tears away as he lifted Crobat's Pokéball up.

Maxie watched it happen and succeeded in making it look like he wasn't interested in it. He was helped by the fact that he really wasn't interested. "One down."

"...One hit..." Dawn muttered so quietly, she was the only one to hear herself say it.

Silver crossed his arms. Even though he was broiling, it was still important for him to look cool. "That's what you get for relying on worthless Pokémon."

That nipped at Maxie's attention. "Then let's see what you've got, boy. Dragon Claw!"

"Dragon Claw?!" he echoed, not expecting a move that his Dragonite couldn't handle.

Once more, Groudon's fist became enveloped in something. This time, instead of fire, it was a blue aura. It swung for Dragonite, missing by a matter of inches due to a quick retreat by the target. Dragonite instinctively fired off a Dragon Pulse in retaliation. It was able to launch the attack, but it didn't see Groudon as it brought its remaining arm down on it, hard. The Hammer Arm command wasn't voiced, which made it a little harder for Silver to scold Dragonite for not dodging it.

"Humbling, is it not?" Archie asked.

"Don't lecture me," he threatened, snarling. Turning to his Pokémon, he saw Dragonite was crushed into the ground. Its attempts to recover itself looked more like involuntary twitching. "Get up! Now!"

The resistance's backs were all turned to it, so there was no way they could have noticed the only door to the room begin glowing blue. Shock was all that registered when there was a sudden _pop._ They all looked back to see the door lying in three motionless pieces on the floor. Before they were able to stare for too long, a red- and white-colored blur literally flew into the room.

The object's velocity didn't slow down until it had rammed into Groudon's neck. Its movement stopped immediately, showing the heroes that backup had arrived in the form of Eon Dragons. Latias had charged through the broken door in a perhaps vain attempt to knock Groudon over. It did cause the beast to stumble a bit, but the resulting recoil wasn't much different from smashing into a stone wall at top speed. She shook her head, attempting to regain her senses.

Latios's psychic control over the door intentionally faded. Deciding to be a bit more elegant about his entrance, he hovered into the room at a much steadier pace, eventually coming to a stop floating a few feet above Dusk and Dawn's heads.

"Ah, there you are!" Maxie shouted. He had no concern about Groudon getting smacked. He didn't have a reason to. "This should prove entertaining. Groudon, swat those flies down!"

Dawn didn't like hearing those words much, espically when they were referring to Latias. She attempted to give Berlitz an order, but it didn't go far. "No—!"

Almost as soon as her mouth opened, Dusk's arm launched in front of her. Last time that had happened, he blocked an incoming knife. This was a different kind of threat, which made the girl somewhat frustrated.

"Too many cooks can spoil the roast," Archie spoke, having caught on to the leader's intentions. "Besides, do you doubt those two could handle themselves?"

Dawn's big sister instincts screamed no. Logic, however reluctant she was in admitting it to herself, really did appear to not agree with her. Quietly, she faced the battle again.

Yet again, Groudon let his first move be a nearly blind slashing attack at the enemies. Neither could have cared much less; Latias flew over it, while Latios barely had to move to stay under it. To counterattack, they launched a simultaneous pair of Dragon Pulses. With surprising speed, the Ground-type moved its arm back in place to block the one aimed for its torso. The one remaining went on to nail it in the shoulder. Like Dragonite's before it, however, it didn't even seem to notice the pain.

"Now then. Flamethrower!"

It wasn't a surprising call from its master. A direct attack had done nothing, but something a bit more controllable might. With even less effort required than the Fire Blast, Groudon pooled its energy and fired off a Flamethrower.

The Eons evaded the opening sequence easily enough. Neither of them paid enough notice to realize that the stream of fire was constant. As they prepared another counter strike, Groudon simply moved its head, changing the course of the flame. They weren't close enough to hit them both at once, but one of the dragons was luckier than the other. Latias screeched as the burning attack hit her. She was normally good with fire and non-physical hits, but all the perpetual heat that Groudon gave off was enough to push it over the edge. The attack hurt.

If nothing else, Silver saw an opportunity to get another word in. "And to think, I tried stealing that thing. Such a weak Pokémon."

It was bad enough Dawn wasn't allowed to help her friend. She wasn't going to stand by and listen to her take lip, either. "Are you talking about the same Pokémon that broke your wrist practically by thinking about it?"

"She didn't _break_ it," he hissed.

Further banter was interrupted by Latios. His closest friend was engulfed in flames. It was a legitimate reason to be angry.

Latios unleashed Luster Purge for the second time. A piercing beam of light was launched from his mouth. First, it was aimed at the Flamethrower—Groudon's fire was cut off from its target, freeing an injured Latias. With the same tactic its opponent had just used—a simple turn of the head—the Luster Purge began drilling into Groudon's face.

Maxie grunted at the turn of events. This wasn't entertainment. It was annoying. "Take none of that," he commanded.

Groudon obeyed. There wasn't much space in the room for it to move, but it still managed to lean its neck far enough to the side to evade the attack. When it had a clear view of him, Groudon crashed its two hands together like cymbals, only he did it over Latios's body. It gripped hard, crushing the dragon's immobile form.

His other had been shaken up by the Flamethrower, but not shut down. Trying to ignore the exhausting and omnipresent heat that was in the room, she focused her will into a Psychic attack. Groudon froze in place. Unwillingly, its hands began to part until Latios had just enough room to maneuver out of its hold.

The dragon was in pain. After all, he had just been caught between two rocks that really wanted to make him a little flatter. He was freed now, but weary. Noticing the beast was still trapped by Latias, he took the opportunity to fire a quick Dragon Pulse at it. The attack connected, then Psychic broke off.

Both reinforcements trudged back to the line to tag someone else in. Latios was in worse shape; he came close to crashing to the floor. He only barely managed to avoid that situation, instead just hovering past the heroes and insisting on a break. "Raaa," he uttered, looking at them all from over his shoulder.

Latias chirped back a response, but before she could attend to him, she got cut off by a sudden hug. "Latias, I'm glad you're okay!"

She looked down from Latios and saw a body she tended to copy a lot. She squealed and gave a small embrace back.

"What have you been doing?" Dawn asked, pulling away for a moment. "Wait, where's Brendan and May?"

-**OAM**-

It had been a long while. Whenever May gathered enough moral strength to push on, she only needed to turn around and see the motionless body on the floor to lose it all over again. It was a frightening event, multiplied by her having just been holding that girl in her blood-stained arms moments ago. Brendan, as usual, was her rock. He knew that time wasn't a friend right now, but he couldn't bring himself to shake May off. Gold, meanwhile, was pacing around the small room. He was ranting with an upset tone of voice, though he was pretty sure neither of the other two were listening.

"This sucks, man! No one told me there'd be character death! I'm not next, am I?"

"This isn't a zombie movie," Brendan retorted, glancing halfway back to his friend. Gold was just happy that at least one of them was paying attention to him.

"Be cool if it was, though."

Most any other time, the Hoenn Trainer would carry on with that discussion. Something about tonight discouraged him from being in the mood. Instead, he gripped May a bit harder, hoping it would calm her down faster.

As he was about to mutter some words, his alert ears caught a sound that wasn't sobbing. A subtle, familiar creak. The same type of creak that was made anytime someone stepped foot into this room.

His eyes shot straight over to the door frame. Waiting for them was a Magma almost as tall as Brendan was. A woman, he could tell; the other details were hidden by the cowl most Magmas wore. As a reaction, he did what he didn't want to do seconds before: he gave May a shove, strong enough to push her behind him. "Get back, May!"

Startled, May stumbled into the direction she was forcefully headed towards. She recovered from it and quickly jerked her head back, surprised about the order. Her wet eyes met those of the Magma quickly. "Hey, you're..."

"Lost?" Brendan finished for his girlfriend. It also conveniently doubled as a taunt to initiate a battle.

The dressed lady pulled back her hood. Brown hair, wrapped by a band into a ponytail, was made much more apparent by the move. Her face was the last detail the other woman in the room needed to finish her own sentence.

"Y-you're Umbreon's mother."

Gold took a step forward in an effort to stand by Brendan's side. He was stopped, though. May did that before he could. Her voice was inevitably shaky, but now her mind had something else to focus on, which helped with the tears. "So everything she said is true."

"Everything in that book was true, too," Brendan stated, pointing a thumb back to the dusty table that Maxie's diary rested on.

Johanne's ears were listening, but her eyes weren't. They laid steady on Key. A few water drops leaked from her eyes, but she didn't pay attention to them. "Do you want me to count the mistakes I've made?"

"_Waitaminute..._" Gold thought to himself. "_That voice is really familiar._" He tapped his chin, listening intently when she continued.

"Umbreon could have had such a better life. One with his family."

Brendan clenched his fists, hard. "What?! So you're telling me—"

"No," May interrupted softly. "Let her talk."

Johanne smiled. It was hard to see, but she did. Her knees imitated the doorway's creaking sound as she knelt down to stroke her hand through Keerasua's locks. Her eyes stayed on her, and only on her. "There's nothing to say. All the dreams I had while lying awake in bed for endless nights. They can't come true anymore. My daughter is dead. My son is fighting my love for their lives. It's no one's fault but mine that all this happened. All because I thought I didn't want anything to do with this Magma stuff."

"So you ran away..." spoke May, helping Johanne with words. She raised a hand to her heart. "With Umbreon."

Brendan was lost in his own feelings. This was Dusk, his comrade, they were talking about. He wanted to get words out, but they weren't coming to him easily. "You raised a good kid," he warily complimented. "If you kept him here, he would have been a loony tune like the rest of you."

"But he would have had a family." For the first time, Johanne rubbed out the tears in her eyes. Still, they avoided the heroes. "I gave him all the love that I could, but no one can be a mother, father, and sister at the same time. Maybe he would have been a Magma, but at least he wouldn't hate me for all the secrets I've kept from him."

"I'm starting to see something here." May's tone was quiet. Like Brendan, she was trying to add all of this up in her head. "Johanne...Do you really care about Magma? Or, after all these years, did you come back in the hope that you would find your family again?"

Johanne didn't respond for a long few moments. When she eventually did, she stood up from her crouching position at the same time. "I did find my family. It's too bad none of them are on the same side." She paused and closed her eyes. When they opened back up, so did a new topic. "I don't want to fight. That isn't why I'm here. Do any of you have Cherry on you?"

Before Brendan could hum at the unusual question, from the background, Gold snapped his fingers. "That's where I remember that voice from!" he shouted. "You're the one that got me out of that jam with Silver! Dude, I got saved by a Magma? What's the deal?"

"The fact that you were fighting one of Magma's worst enemies had something to do with it," Johanne answered, her grin turning slightly more sinister during the sentence.

Without a word, May grabbed a Pokéball from her collection. Much to Brendan's disconcertment, a small cat popped out of the sphere. With an excited cry of, "Nyyah!" the Skitty tore off in a beeline to reach her original Trainer.

"So did the fact that you're a good mom," May said, setting the ball away.

"All right, let's not get carried away," Brendan intervened, making sure his eyes stayed off of Cherry. "You are talking to the enemy here."

Gold stepped up. Disregarding the need for May to speak, he did it for her. "No such thing as an enemy that doesn't want to fight, bro. She might be wearing their clothes, but she's by far my favorite Magma."

Again, Johanne found herself kneeling to the ground. Instead of crying on her daughter, however, she was giving a warm embrace to the Pokémon. She held her tightly, earning a disapproving squeak when she gripped too hard. "I still love you, Cherry..."

"Nyyaahh!"

"With all that was on my conscience, I couldn't bring myself to take care of this Skitty anymore," she explained softly, still wrapped inside of a cat hug. "She was too innocent to be brought into what I was doing."

Gold and May were the only ones watching her. Brendan turned to his side and stared at the wall, avoiding the Magma and feline entirely. He was feigning anger at her. At least, that's what he was hoping it looked like. The former two were the only ones that noticed when Johanne broke off the love-fest with Cherry, only to set her on the ground and stand up afterwards.

"But, I've wasted too much of our time," the woman stated, beginning to sound more like a self-confident Magma. "You need to go help your friends. I'm not going to try to stop you."

May began a sentence, but couldn't find the last word she needed. "But what about..."

Johanne's head bowed until bangs covered her eyes. She moved to slip the cowl back onto her head, farther shadowing her features. "I need time alone with Keerasua. I'll be following you after that."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Brendan scoffed.

She turned around without replying to the snarky question. When she reached her daughter, she knelt down, nearly returning to her exact original position. Once she heard Cherry getting recalled into her Pokéball, she spoke one more sentence before the three raced out the door.

"I'm not going to promise you what side I'll be on."

"You know what," responded the male Hoenn Trainer with one foot out the door. "Stand behind us or in front of us. I couldn't care either way.'"

May wasn't very satisfied at how sour Brendan was acting toward Umbreon's mother, but she said nothing. Stomaching one last look at Key, she followed the boys out of the room.

"Alone..." Johanne muttered to herself, and possibly to Keerasua. "Just like our family has always been."

She didn't follow her own schedule. After those words, she got to her feet and stepped toward the open doorway. There she saw Gold leading the other two through an exit on the right-hand side of the room.

Without looking back, she walked straight ahead, first down the stairs, then across the Pokémon arena. When she reached the door that the heroes had taken to originally get into this room, she quietly slipped behind it.

-**OAM**-

"There must be one. There simply must be."

As serious as it was, the night so far had led to some laughs for the above-water third team. Between creating internal chaos by hacking into the Magma's deepest security systems and having small, fun debates with each other, Max and Jake came to realize just how similar they were. Their night hadn't been any definition of boring, but the time for amusement was over. Jake was entirely in control of the security, which left the Magma techie somewhat baffled about why he could no longer watch over the team with the cameras.

"Down those stairs is the leader's private quarters," he explained while cycling through a list of online, but inactive camera feeds. "It's highly improbable that he forgot to put in cameras there."

His partner in tech-crime hiked his glasses higher onto his nose before responding. "Improbable, maybe, but it's the only answer. You have control of the whole system. Why wouldn't you be able to see through them if they were down there?"

"It's possible they're on a different network...I guess." Jake allowed himself a ten second break and fell backwards. The backrest of the chair caught him before he went far. "It's been three years since I've dealt with this. Maybe he decided to make his own room more secure in that time."

Max was as convinced as Jake was. That is, not very much. Having been pacing around to stop his legs from falling asleep, Max took the seat he was nearest, which was a few down from his friend's spot. "But for only one room? Is there anything else down there?"

Jake thought for a few moments, then tapped a few keys. Once more, various spots of Magma's headquarters scrolled onto the screen one at a time. While spinning around the channels, he found Gold, Brendan, and May running toward the same room the others were in. Max was pleased to see his sister was still all right, but spoke nothing when Jake quickly continued onto the next camera.

Eventually, he reached what appeared to be the end of the line. Channels 041 and 042. Both contained nothing but the words "No feed" written on top of a black screen. "Those have got to be it."

"They're offline," Max stated, not realizing just how obvious it was until after he had spoken.

Jake shrunk the picture of nothing and brought up something else. "I think I can fix that."

Moments of isolated silence passed. The younger Trainer wasn't about to interrupt, which the cloaked one appreciated. Even after announcing a pleased-sounding, "There," Jake continued hitting a few more buttons before the cameras' feeds opened up.

Cameras 041 and 042 provided the same answers from different angles. Groudon's menacing form was the first thing they could lay eyes on. They watched without words as the legendary Latias and Latios threw themselves at it in a nearly vain attempt to take it down. The second of the cameras showed more of the resistance; from that angle, the humans didn't seem very happy with how the battle was going.

Jake returned to the first feed. He got there just in time to see Groudon lean forward and roar an undoubtedly hostile roar. The cameras didn't pick up sound, which was a positive aspect right now. "Maxie resorted to _that?_"

He knew it was going to be dangerous, but Max was now truly scared for all of his friends' well-being. He bit his lip, but didn't hold it for long. He pushed his chair back, granting him space to move out of it.

Already he wasn't far from his destination. He took a few steps closer to the wall; more specifically, a small table in front of it. Resting on the table was a dull blue, corded phone. He grabbed the device from its base, then punched in a series of numbered buttons that were on the receiver.

It began ringing. While he waited, Max chanced one more look at the computer screen. Groudon was still there waiting for him. By the time the other side of the phone picked up, the boy's hand was shaking.

"Hello?"

"Dad...It's an emergency. You have to come to Petalburg, now."

-**OAM**-

Maxie put his left hand on his hip. He could see the stumbling band of "heroes," even while behind his behemoth, which gave him the opportunity to stare at each one in succession. "Why won't you let yourselves accept it? This is Groudon's world now."

"Over my dead body."

Maxie's eyes darted off to the side. Likewise, most of the group turned to look at where that had come from as well. Tabitha had been rather quiet since he had sent his Crobat into battle, but that wasn't the case any longer. Fire in his eyes and a Pokéball in his hand, he leered at his old boss like a wolf that just had its prey stolen. He was upset, and rather desperately required revenge. "I'm so sick of that voice, but here. Lemme give you something to talk about."

He launched the orb, sending it spinning into the air. It popped open three feet above his own head, only to swiftly return to him with the creature inside released. It couldn't even properly form before Latias squeaked an useless whimper. She wasn't heard, having been overshadowed by the cry a moment later. "Jolt!"

"Finally," Maxie chuckled, "one of you was stupid enough to attack Groudon with an Electric-type Pokémon. I'm only moderately surprised it was you, Tabitha."

The Admin came close to giving into his desire to outwit the enemy, but it wasn't worth it. The damage that had been done to Crobat, and forcing him to live in a desert for so long...No way, he decided. The only other words he had for Maxie were, "You're finished," and he couldn't say them. Not yet, anyway. "Guys, help me rip into this scumbag! Jolteon, use Agility!"

Magma's boss once again had to put effort into blocking a fit of laughter. "This will get you nowhere," he announced pompously. Both hands disappeared behind his back, grasping one another for a more comfortable position. "Stomp it into the ground, Groudon!"

Umbreon, like Tabitha, wasn't about to let Maxie walk out of here. The world was nice and all that, but this fight went beyond that for him. There was a much more personal stake in this. That overwhelming emotion carried into his voice as he commanded his Buneary. "Vesera, your job is to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Bun!"

Meanwhile, Dawn held in her hands an important item. Pink in color, and not heavier than a pound. She clicked a few buttons on the bottom half of the device, causing the screen to shift on the top. It brought up all the information about Mismagius that she would ever want to know. She skimmed through it all quickly to find the one bit that she needed. Evolving Berlitz was something that had never crossed her mind before, but now she couldn't have been happier about it. She shut her Pokédex just in time to watch Vesera Jump Kick the Ground-type in the chin, but focused more on her own goals. "Berlitz, chant! Cast a spell and transfer some of your power to Jolteon!"

The ghost obeyed, humming its own name to itself in preparation for something. It was drowned out all too soon by Groudon's obnoxiously loud growls.

The Normal-type Pokémon found it difficult trying to focus her power into an Ice Punch. It was too hot to easily get her fist at an appropriate temperature, but "too hard" wasn't an excuse right now. Groudon was about to swing its tail around to make the speeding bullet that was Jolteon come to an unexpected halt. She charged her attack as chilling as she could, then let it fly, driving the punch into Groudon's heel.

Vesera's freezing jab weakened it, or at least stunned it. It howled in disgust, also stopping its tail for a moment. A second was a big enough break for Jolteon—it leaped to get on top of the same thing Groudon tried to attack it with. It proceeded to scale the beast's body from the tail up. At the halfway point, a sudden cry of Berlitz's species name was heard. Jolteon's body began glowing a venomous purple, clashing with its normally bright colors.

"Congratulations," Maxie praised, his voice saturated by sarcasm. "You got on top of Groudon. Now what happens?"

Tabitha didn't get to answer. Archie did it for him. "Something similar to this. Mantine, go! Soak Groudon with your Water Gun!"

"You must be joking," his arch-enemy mused.

Mantine, after a chirpy yelp of its own name, mustered some content up from its bottomless internal well. A continuous stream of water erupted from Mantine's mouth, aimed in the general direction of Groudon's face. Due to the heat, it wasn't all that effective, and some of it had even evaporated before reaching its target. The effect Aqua's leader truly wanted, however, was played out flawlessly.

In part, Groudon didn't even realize there was a four-legged creature on him. His foot still ached from that Ice Punch, and being sprayed with water was just plain annoying. He was a legendary Pokémon that shouldn't have been disturbed; on top of that, the influences of the Magma Ball were beginning to be released in full. All of these things, these attacks, these Pokémon, these humans. Everything was making him angrier.

Tabitha cracked the bones in one fist with his other hand. "Eat it. Thunderbolt that thing!"

"Jolt jolt! Jolt!"

Electricity was gathered inside of the Lightning Pokémon even faster than Wizard could claim to do it. An attack, its signature one, was loosed, frying anything at its height. However, that list included only Groudon. Not only was the lightning its common yellow, but purple and black infused; that was due to the power of Berlitz's incantation, something Dawn made a mental note of to remember. Electric-type attacks weren't able to do much against the mythical creator of land, but both Mantine's water and Berlitz's power insisted on altering that rule. The water conducted the electricity, leaving it with nowhere to go but Groudon itself.

It bellowed. Not much in pain, but only more anger. It was a fresh reminder of just how scary a situation this was. The beast rocked back and forth, swinging its head around. Jolteon took its cue and hopped off. Though the ghostly power disappeared while in the air, it touched ground safely and turned back around to inspect the damage. The towering Pokémon again bent down closer to the floor and roared, its already deafening sound magnified by the proximity.

"Look at Groudon, you curs!" Maxie shouted. He was beginning to share in Groudon's anger. "All of your precious strategies, all this work...and for what? You're only making things worse for yourselves by provoking it! You haven't left a scratch!"

Silver noticed his nose scrunched up. It did that sometimes when he got angry. It was a habit he was trying to break. "You know, Dusk, Dad isn't so far off. We're doing nothing to this thing."

Dusk nearly cringed. He knew getting riled up was the reaction Silver wanted, however, so he did his best not to give him that satisfaction. "I told you, I have a plan," he muttered from behind clenched teeth. It also came to his attention that Silver was the only one who didn't help Jolteon out in that attack, but again bit his tongue to prevent an unwanted nasty reaction.

"That's the second time you've said that," the red-head shot back, "It'd be a great time to fill your 'team' in with this plan of yours."

"Shut up and do your job!" Dawn shouted. She wasn't nervous at all about it, as there were several other things presently to be more nervous about than him. "I'm tired of you always doubting Dusk!"

"Ever since the desert, he hasn't given me a _reason_ to trust him."

"Look, Dusk will let us know what to do when the time comes. But until then—"

She got cut off. Or rather, drowned out.

The room itself shook as Groudon roared.


	30. The End, Part 6

It had to be quite a sight to see. While Professor Birch was no stranger to Petalburg City, even he had to admit that it was strange for a guy in a long white lab coat to be running through the streets well into the early morning hours. Some people were still awake, determined to get that last bit of rebuilding done; he couldn't blame them when some of them had to look at him twice. Still, he raced on. Max hadn't given him much more detail about the emergency than "come to the Gym," so he could only hope he had the right tools on him for whatever it was.

When he reached the iconic, gigantic doors of the Petalburg Gym, he picked a side at random and ripped the door open. He jumped through, immediately shouting, "Max! Max, are you in here?"

Despite having become rather good friends with the owners of the Gym, due mostly to their respective kids' relations, Birch never found himself visiting the Gym much. Max did respond for him, making his search much easier. "In here, Dad!"

Once more, he ran as fast as his untrained legs would let him. Straight ahead, where Max's voice was. He barged through the door, leaving him to find a surprisingly quiet room. Only Max and a stranger, who was noticeably using the former one's computer, were sitting down in the nearest corner of a wide table. "Is he bullying you, son?" Birch asked, his voice serious. "Did he take your computer?"

Jake turned his neck slowly towards Birch, staring at him with a totally blank expression. Max spoke up before he could counter the accusation himself. "Ugh! No, Dad! Just come here! You have to see this."

Now curious more than anything—what emergency could be on the computer at nearly three in the morning?—Birch trotted toward the boys. His eyes shifted to the screen as soon as they were able. His mouth fell open when they did.

A Mantine got swatted into the wall like an insect, unable to put up anything resembling resistance. The Buneary was picked up and hurled straight back to the floor. The legendary Groudon was on a rampage, and it didn't look like anyone in its way had the power to stop it.

It continued. Jolteon got smashed by the beast's weighty tail; Mismagius got roasted by a close range Fire Blast, which carried on to nearly hit the person standing behind it. A second fiery attack was aimed at Dragonite, but it was the only one that was able to dodge it.

"Isn't that Dawn?!" Birch shouted in shock as he watched the girl narrowly escape the Fire Blast.

"Everyone's down there," his son reluctantly informed. He'd much rather not be the messenger, but someone had to be, he knew.

The Pokémon Professor's heart ached. The tone his boy used, the realization of what it meant, caused his voice to quiet down drastically. "May is fighting that thing?"

"Not yet," Jake replied. He tapped a few keys, minimizing the view on one camera and showing a different one. Birch's daughter, her boyfriend, and someone he didn't recognize were running down a long hallway which led to a door. "But they aren't far off."

The screen changed back to Groudon. For the umpteenth time, it had paused in its tantrum to let out an alpha dog roar. "What in blazes is going on?"

Max stood up from his seat, freeing up a spot for his father to sit down. The young man clamped to the back of Jake's chair, making sure he had a good view of the action. "That's too long of a story for now," he responded. "How can they beat that thing?"

"I-I'm not sure." Birch scratched the back of his head, leaning forward in his chair a bit. "I've heard rumors and things, but..."

In contrast, Jake let the backrest of the chair catch him. Before he folded his arms, he pushed the laptop a few inches towards the Professor. "If you hold down this button, your voice will carry over the Magma's alarm system. They've been going at this for awhile now, though. It might be best to only give them advice you're more sure of."

"It's...impossible." Professor Birch dug his face into his hands. Despite his words, it was more of a contemplative gesture than one of despair. "Historically, only Rayquaza's beaten Groudon in battle before. None of them could possibly have anything strong enough to outright defeat it."

"So what are you saying?" Max asked, half angry, half terrified. "They don't even have any hope?"

Birch placed one hand on top of the other. He used that to hold his chin up. "No, I'm not saying that. They have things that Groudon doesn't, like teamwork and wit. If that will be enough...well, that depends on how well they work with their Pokémon. As scary as this is, there's nothing I could say to them that would help. It's all up to them."

Max quietly groaned. His dad could do so many things, but he should have known that something like this would be out of even his reach. They had done as much as they could for his sister's team. They had scrambled the Magma's intercom system, leaving them unable to communicate with one another; they had managed to open and shut electronic doors as needed, even to the ability of stopping a few would-have-been ambushes; but this was it. Birch was right. It was all up to them now.

Wordless, Jake slid the computer back his way just a bit, granting all three of them access to watching the battle unfold.

-**OAM**-

Dawn reached for the hand that Umbreon was offering her. He helped her off of the floor, where she had been forced to dive to. "This guy's lost it," she muttered, somewhat shaken by Groudon's sudden outburst.

"Startin' to think he never had it to begin with," Tabitha replied.

Their army, decimated. A lone Dragonite stood before the monster, its teammates each having been wiped out in a single hit. It was still getting over its earlier bout with Groudon, and now it looked like everyone was counting on it. The mythical dragon honestly didn't think it stood much of a better shot than any of its fallen comrades. Not that cowering to Silver was better option.

The heat in the room only felt worse to everyone as time ticked away. As Groudon got angrier, so did its power to eliminate any sources of water. To someone who relies so heavily on the ocean, the truth sunk in faster than anyone. "Dusk," Archie started, "I'm starting to understand Silver's point. We're running out of time. If you can't execute your plan soon, it might be too late."

Dusk stepped forward a few feet without saying anything. He knelt down to take Vesera into his arms—she was alive and conscious, but in no condition to battle any more. He turned back to face his team, though he specifically looked at Dawn. He didn't trust anyone to fix this situation more than her. Without much emotion, he spoke. "Vesera was my plan."

"Solid plan," scoffed a ready Silver.

Dawn looked down to the ground. At best, she was thinking of some solution. Trying to stand strong in the face of hearing a sorrowful, "Bun, Buneary," he looked over the supplies he had dropped from his backpack. Nothing there was capable of getting her back on her feet. Latias and Latios were still in the back. They looked nearly ready to attack again, but really, what could they do? Things only got worse when a dark voice echoed from somewhere on the other side of Groudon.

"This despair...Did you truly not expect it? Did Archie not warn you of just what you'd be up against?"

That tone was poisonous. The sound of it alone made Dusk grow a little bit angrier; the words that were actually spoken only multiplied it. But there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"You have the heart of a Magma, my son. It's too bad I can't convince you to use it."

His blue-haired friend stumbled over and put a hand on his shoulder. His silence spoke enough to know that he needed someone close by. "Don't listen to him, Dusk. He just wants to mess with your head."

The exit door was shattered from when the Eon dragons had flown in. With the help of a quiet room (Groudon was even on the silent side while it restored some energy it had lost in its outrage), the gang of heroes heard sounds coming from behind them. Familiar voices began carrying into the room from the tinny hallway as well. "It's boiling down here," one of them said.

"That's it, I'm never wearing this jacket again."

Maxie huffed a sigh and made sure it was heard. "Do you have any other backup? Should we wait for them, too? I'm growing impatient."

Dusk heard him, but this time was able to disregard him. A smile was clear on his face. As his friends grew closer, he realized that there might just be a shot at this after all.

Brendan had been in the lead, allowing him to be the first one into the room. He could tell that sweat was already forming on the sides of his face, all due to the excessive heat that was down here. "Umbry, Dawn! ...Other people I don't really know. What in the world..."

He didn't really need to finish that sentence. There were many ways he could have, but he didn't know what one to go for first. Besides that, Dawn cut in.

"Guys, we could use a hand."

"Fair enough," the white-haired male granted. "You're up, Metagross!"

May sent Blaziken into the fight with a call of her name. She was quick to move beside her friends, where she felt her best.

"That thing's boss!" Gold complimented, referring to Groudon. Simultaneously, he launched a Pokéball containing his Tyranitar towards it. "Too bad we got to take it down and all that."

Upon their appearance, each Pokémon screeched its name. Groudon seemed to accept this as a challenge and let loose another outcry to silence them all. Maxie, meanwhile, took the opportunity to chuckle. "And they'll all fall no softer than the ones before them. Groudon, flatten these insects!"

With luck, the three fresh Pokémon were holding their own. In truth, Dusk couldn't care much about it. All they needed to do was hang in there long enough for one quick thing. Having been holding onto her through the Hoenn Trainer's entrance, Dusk turned to face his male comrade and slightly lifted Vesera up to highlight her. "Brendan, Vesera needs to be healed. I'm going to end this, right now."

"Ah," Brendan answered with, beginning to search through his backpack for any type of Potion. "The famous 'rabbit and the fourteen-foot dinosaur.' I grew up with that story."

For the first time during the entire night, luck was in Umbreon's favor. Vesera was healed by a spray from medicine that Brendan had found. When he turned back around to face the battle, he saw all three Pokémon working together to hold back Groudon's arm, which was continually attempting to crush them all. Maxie evidently found this amusing enough to chuckle at, which was especially helpful since that meant he wasn't paying attention to Dusk.

"Dusk, what are you...?" began Dawn, though she didn't make it any farther with her question.

The Sinnoh Trainer knelt down for a moment to drop Vesera safely on the heated floor. Upon standing back up, he looked straight at Groudon's eyes. He wasn't even noticed by the legendary creature. "I want everyone to recall their Pokémon. Then I want anyone who will listen to me to leave."'

"Groudon, stop."

That wasn't the immediate reaction Dusk had been expecting. Nor did it even come from the right side of the field. Disturbingly obedient, Groudon lifted its appendage up. The three Pokémon that had been beneath it didn't seem to mind not being oppressed any longer.

"I want to hear this," Maxie continued. "Are you surrendering?"

"No," his abandoned son replied rather coolly. It was one of the first times in his life that he had spoken directly to his father. "I'm winning."

Brendan lifted up the Pokéball he had used to send in Metagross barely two minutes before. However, he chose not to use it yet. "Bro, I'll take Metagross back if you want me to, but you know none of us are about to leave."

"Geez, even I'm curious where this is going," Tabitha stated.

Silver and Archie were oddly silent.

"Dusk..."

Umbreon turned to face his best partner, Team Missile's second-in-command and for all intents and purposes, the first friend he ever made. "Dawn, I couldn't get you to leave when we had Time and Space chasing after us. I didn't expect you to leave now."

"Then it's settled," May added. She recalled Blaziken, which led the way for the other two to recall their Pokémon as well. Silver took up a reluctant last place, letting Dragonite out of the heat and into its home. "What's the plan, Umbreon?"

Dusk took a deep breath. He was about to talk, when he realized he needed a second breath. Far across the field, Team Magma's leader smirked. He was enjoying this. "Maxie," Umbreon finally announced. "You keep insisting that I have the heart of a Magma. Let me see if I know how to use it. Vesera..."

It was odd. Now that he thought about it, Dusk hadn't used Vesera in very many battles. When he did, he didn't really have a chance to show off the reason this particular Buneary captured his attention in the first place. If he had ever brought it up in a conversation with Dawn, he didn't remember it. Judging by her expression being as blank as all the others, she clearly didn't either. He could see now, admittedly, how odd this must have looked. Yet, he couldn't find himself concerned about it. They could never overpower Groudon. No, this needed to end another way.

"Earthquake."

The gasp issued by May and Dawn were instantaneous and accidentally synchronized. A drawn-out, "Uhh—" was also heard, those coming from Brendan and Tabitha. Without turning his head, Dusk couldn't see what Archie's reaction was. He could plainly see Silver's from the corner of his eye, however. A terrifying, maniacal smirk was on his face.

Maxie's feelings were far different. The grin that had been plastered on his face nearly the entire time was nowhere to be found. He was frozen in a state of shock, but not for long. He needed to talk fast. "Umbreon, think clearly. That move will level this base."

Vesera bolted forward, moving in hops. She leaped, landing on Groudon's own knee.

"Would you truly sacrifice all those that are important to you in the name of stopping me?"

Groudon reached down to slap the nuisance off of its knee. That only backfired, however. With agility like nothing Groudon could ever manage, the Buneary hopped in place to avoid the attack. She landed on the beast's hand and proceeded to run straight up it to reach the shoulder.

"All the lives you'll take..." Maxie went on. "Of people and Pokémon alike. This will make you worse than anything Team Magma's ever done."

The ruby-colored beast was getting angered to the boiling point. It began breathing a stream of Flamethrower from its mouth, but again, the nimble rabbit was able to dodge it. She once again bounced into the air, this time landing on the tip of her opponent's nose. She proceeded to use it as a springboard, leaping so high into the air that her ears managed to touch the high ceiling. Then, as gravity took effect, she extended her leg and awaited contact with the floor.

Gold gulped. "Guys, uh, if that thing hits the ground..."

"We all go squish," finished Tabitha, reciting the same line he had given Maxie at the very start of this long and brutal battle.

"Stop that thing!" Maxie ordered. "Groudon!"

Groudon lifted up its massive arms. It watched carefully as Vesera fell back to earth. She was speedy, but had no way of changing her direction this time. As she nearly got to its face, Groudon began closing its two hands, wanting to crush her in between them like two giant boulders.

As the ligaments began moving, two distinct _whooshing_ sounds were heard. Overhead, the two Eon Pokémon set off. As they neared Groudon, they separated into opposite directions. Latios charged into the right hand dead-on and continued pushing against it with all of his might afterwards. Latias did very much the same thing on the other side. Groudon managed to gain a bit of ground, but not enough. The pair of dragons held back the nearly immovable claws long enough for Vesera to fall below them.

Maxie's eyes doubled in their size.

The foot struck the hard floor with all of the intensity she had gained from that fall. The effect was immediate. True to its name, the very ground around them began shaking. Areas on the walls instantly cracked, where slow leaks of water from the outside already began dripping in. There was an impressive divide where the ground itself had been struck as well. Vesera needed to quickly leap away in order to not be splashed by the sudden creation of a geyser.

All the Trainers close to the exit knelt down on a single knee to prevent themselves from falling over during the tremor. The Eons, affected only by the unsettling sounds and occasional ceiling chunks that were dropping, quietly hovered back to their team.

"Congrats, Umbry," Brendan again chimed in. "You finally destroyed a building in Hoenn. Did we _really_ need to be inside of it, though?"

Dusk grinned, but his attention was soon diverted.

When issuing that command, there was only one thing Umbreon really had in mind: utterly destroying this base and the person who owned it. There was another effect, however. One he probably could have predicted, though it made for a pleasant surprise.

The ground was shaking, and some of the beings in the room were able to handle that better than others. Groudon was a lumbering beast who wasn't prepared for a natural disaster to occur at the base of his feet. It began to stumble. Having already been somewhat cramped in the room, the creature's movements only added to all of the shaking. That wasn't all too important, though. The fact that it was stumbling backwards was.

"Groudon, stop! No! N—"

It was too big. Even if it wasn't, there was nowhere to run to. In its uncontrolled reversing, Groudon tripped on the ascending stairs that Maxie had been standing on top of through the entire battle. It fell down, back first, onto its Trainer.

Many in the group caught that. Latias, who likely had her own stake in this fight, was the first to chirp loudly, even over the sound of a collapsing building. Dusk eyed the beast's fallen form for a moment, then decided something. "That was for taking Nuclear from me."

"Hey, guys?" Tabitha spoke up. The earthquake was only now beginning to subside a little. By this time, there had been enough tiny cracks and leaks to nearly cover the entire floor in a thin layer of water. "I'll be the first to say it, I don't know if we can make it out. With that said, I don't think we'll lose any points if we try."

"No, wait!" May screamed as several people started to climb to their feet. "Meditite, we really need you!"

Upon launching the Pokéball, an event that only her closest friends around recognized happened. The grey- and blue-colored Pokémon fell out of its ball completely limp. It hit the floor like a ragdoll, its breathing even being questionable. May attempted to climb to her feet, but the floor shook—a massive leak must have been created somewhere else in the building, large enough to create another tremor. "Someone hit it!" its Trainer cried out.

Being one of the few to apparently not mind the ground's vibration, Vesera contently hopped over to the released Pokémon. "Bun." A light kick to the arm didn't work. Instead, she tried a more focused kick at its ribs. "Bun!"

This was much more successful. The Psychic-type Pokémon kicked the air, using the momentum gained to land on his feet. "Mediii, tite!" he screeched, evidently not being bothered much by the events surrounding him either.

"Do you people breed Pokémon to be that useless, or do you just attract them naturally?" Silver wondered, perhaps even seriously.

It was ignored. "Meditite, sweetie, please use your Teleport! Warp us all back to the surface!"

"Medi." He sat on the ground, but soon began to hover in place with psychic energy. The meditation began, and it would only take a moment to use the move.

While waiting, Archie appeared to want to pass the time. "I am still unsure if I find your tactic bold or reckless, Dusk," he said. "It was quite the grand finale, at least."

Gold, still taking a knee, stared at Meditite intensely. "It'll be quite a bad grand finale if that thing doesn't hurry up..."

May uttered a "Shh." She knew her Meditite to have good concentration, but in the event that he was paying attention to the conversation, the added pressure surely wouldn't help.

The quaking of the ground seemed to cease. At least, as far as the Earthquake maneuver was concerned. By this time, it was pretty evident that the building wasn't going to last much longer. Groudon continued to lay where it had landed, probably unconscious. That was a good thing. If it woke up and so much as breathed, the resulting boom from the movement would no doubt bury everything instantly. Water was now a couple of inches high, covering Vesera's lower half entirely. She begged to be put back into her Pokéball for now, but as her Trainer reached for the object, he was interrupted.

"Medii, tite!"

A blue flash, totally blinding, covered the entire room.

-**OAM**-

May blinked her eyes. There was quite a bit of scurrying going on around her, but her senses were taking a moment to Teleport along with her. Soon enough, things began coming back to her. She first realized that she, along with everyone else involved in the instant transportation, was laying on the floor. Then she recognized the floor, too. They had made it into the Petalburg Gym's dining room, where all of their meetings had taken place. There were a couple voices around her talking—many more groans, though—but one in particular caught her attention.

It was Gold. He was sitting up, rubbing his head. Behind May's eyes, he looked somewhat blurry. Her vision wasn't quite back yet. "Definitely do not remember that happening last time..."

May decided to try to get off the floor herself. She found her arms stronger than she was expecting to. She pushed on them and managed to reach a sitting position without much of a problem. "It was probably...the number of people and Pokémon," she answered, still feeling somewhat groggy. "It needed to Teleport a lot more than it did last time. It looks like Meditite did a fantastic job, though..."

Before she could study the rest of the awakening bodies, she heard her name get called out. A pair of rather youthful hands were suddenly wrapped around her midsection. Even though it was behind her, however, she recognized the teary-eyed voice they belonged to. "May, I was really worried..."

In all honesty, it felt good to hear that. As an older sister, she didn't always get the opportunity to. "I'm fine, Max. We all are, thanks to Meditite."

It wasn't very long before everyone was back up to full speed. A headache there, a bruise from a bad landing there, but nothing worse than a collapsing undersea base would have caused. Some of Team Magma's members who had left earlier in the battle surrounded Tabitha, congratulating and teasing him in the same manner they always seemed to. Their counterparts, the Aqua grunts, were nowhere to be found, which was probably for the best.

May didn't waste much time worrying about them. Barely holding itself on the floor with its hands and knees, Meditite panted loudly. May took this as a cue to squeeze the Pokémon in a highly affectionate hug, then return it to the Pokéball where it was promised as much rest as it wanted. Her next target suffered the same fate, though without the Pokéball part. She quickly located Brendan and threw her arms around him. He rewarded her with a long kiss on the lips.

"Brendan...I can't believe we did it!"

"Saved the world, barely saved ourselves...Just like last week, right?"

Another lip-to-lip embrace began. It didn't end as peacefully as the last one did, though. Even with their eyes closed, the two Hoenn Trainers realized they had a shadow cast over them. Opening their eyes, abandoning the connection, and turning their heads to the side, they saw Archie standing there, rather rudely watching the two. Given that he was probably the tallest and undoubtedly the buffest person in the room, they both paused before telling him to back off.

"Pardon me," he started off with. It sounded genuine enough. "But I seem to be one of the few to notice there's been an issue."

"An...issue?" parroted May.

"Unless there is quite a delayed reaction on that Teleport, it would appear that we didn't come back with as many as we left with."

"What?!" Brendan shouted. "Who's mi—"

It didn't take long to realize who wasn't around them. Brendan's sentence was cut off for that reason. May's mouth dropped, her eyes widening in horror. "...No..."

Latias, having been flying above the heads of all looking for her friend, gave up. She left a neutral Latios behind in the sky to float down to May. The red- and white-colored dragon cawed, tugging at May's shirt with an abundance of anxiety in her eyes.

Archie took point in leading a way towards one of his teammates, clearing a path of Magma outfits for the two Trainers to walk through. "Jake can see them onscreen. Come."

As the two humans bolted after the towering leader, Latias was left seemingly alone. Staying in her spot, she looked back up to her similarly-typed ally. For a second, he closed his eyes. When he opened them back up, he began flying towards the exit, apparently unnoticed by all except for his partner.

Latias squeaked, but didn't give chase.


	31. Just Like Old Times

"Tell me something. Was that _supposed_ to happen?"

Conditions hadn't improved. The building was still breaking apart all around them. The only difference was there was a lot less people in the way now. In fact, there remained only three. Why Silver needed to be one of them is the only thing Umbreon was wondering.

"Something must have gone wrong. We have to assume—"

Dusk's command was ended short. He was tackled by Dawn. The pair rolled over themselves a couple times, Dawn going a little farther than her friend. When he stopped spinning, Dusk looked back to his original position. A massive chunk of ceiling was occupying the spot he had been in not five seconds before. Contact with the weakening floor was impressive enough to cause a small crack all on the debris' own. Dusk turned his head to the other side to look at his teammate.

"Finally..." Dawn said, peeling herself off the ground. "We're even for that knife in Veilstone. That's been hanging over me ever since."

"Th-thanks..." Dusk couldn't deny his heart rate had increased dramatically after coming to terms with just how close that had been. It had been interrupted, but he decided to get back to his original statement. "We have to assume they made it out, but aren't coming back for us. We need to get to that elevator."

"Then let's move already," demanded the red-haired Trainer. Having been on the ground since the earthquake had started, he only now got back to his feet. He bolted for the door, but Dusk and Dawn still beat him there. Vesera had already been recalled.

Being in the lead, Dusk tried to remember every turn they needed to take and every door that they didn't. Getting out of that room was a relief in itself. Despite all of the water, it had still been warm from Groudon's natural ability. The first hurdle was the stairs leading down here. The torches still adorned the walls, most of them even still being lit. After that was the hallway where Roark...

They would get to that soon enough.

While climbing the stairs, the three of them heard an unexpected sound. They forced themselves to not stop running, but it was difficult to not pay attention to it. At first, it was static, followed by what sounded like distant chatting. A more upfront voice followed soon after that.

"Umbreon, Dawn! Can you hear me?"

It was undoubtedly the voice of May. The fact was rather needlessly confirmed by a second person talking. "May, he said it was that key."

"Brendan, he just pointed at it. It's this one."

Dusk and Dawn shared a look with one another, but continued running.

"We're watching you through the security system," May stated, returning back to the two trapped in the Magma base. "Some of the cameras are down, so we don't know if the intercom system has been destroyed too, but...If you can hear this, we're going to try to help you get out, okay?"

A third voice shouted through the microphone next. "Silv! Wave peace at a camera if you can hear this!"

The Johto Trainer did what was probably the closest equivalent he would ever get to it. There was a camera located at the top of the stairs, which the group was nearing. He took the opportunity to give it a deadpan glare.

"Dude, that's it!" exclaimed Gold, sounding like he leaned away from the microphone. "That's his peace sign!"

May returned to her original command. "Umbreon, Dawn...I'm so sorry. Meditite was so exhausted after that Teleport. He knew he couldn't handle taking anyone else. I'm so sorry...A-anyway, there's nothing wrong with the path up here. Keep moving."

Silence could have fallen over the three stranded Trainers. May was right that nothing was physically wrong with the upcoming hallway. At least, setting aside the soulless body and the pool of blood that extended from one wall to the other, there was nothing wrong. As they passed by Roark, Dawn looked down at the green bandana May had given him to cover his face. It made Dusk remember to check on a couple things. He first made sure Wizard was still secure inside of his backpack. Once that was confirmed, his hand wandered over the pistol he had taken from the Gym Leader and rested inside of his belt. He didn't know why his hand moved over there.

Silence could have fallen over the Trainers, but Silver didn't let it happen. He kept himself in the back, though he knew he could easily outrun the two others. This conversation was worth more than his safety. "I was right about you all along."

Dusk said nothing. He pretended to be concentrating on his mad dash forward, but he couldn't help but hear Silver's words that were so close behind him.

"You saw an opportunity and you took it. You didn't know your friend was going to try warping us out. You didn't even care." It truly sounded as though he was trying to stop himself from laughing. "You wanted him dead, and you made that happen without worrying about what was in your way. You were planning this ever since you heard we were going underwater, weren't you?"

Unlike Umbreon, Dawn wasn't too intimidated to look back. She found the loose cannon behind her grinning. "Is this really the best time for this conversation?"

May couldn't hear them. They knew that. That only made the timing seem even sweeter when she spoke up, ending that argument before it went any farther. "This is important," she said just as they rounded the corner to reach the next hallway. Up here is where they had found Dawn and Silver. "The cameras in the room Dawn was in and the hallway to get back to the Magma's battle arena are destroyed. Umbreon, you need to go back through the way that the five of us came from. The other ways are probably flooded, so it's your only hope."

An unfamiliar voice spoke. The best that could be assumed was that it was the Magma that had stayed on the surface. "Oh...that's not good. May, let go of that button for a minute and zoom—"

The communication was cut off, leading them to imagine May had indeed released the button.

"Shoot," muttered Umbreon.

Dawn was the only one close enough to have even heard it. "What?"

The boy underneath the beret sighed, though it sounded more like a growl. "You know how I told you that we made an exit? We didn't exactly make an entrance..."

They passed by a door. Dawn remembered bouncing down those steps to be in the arms of her boyfriend what seemed like hours ago, though it couldn't have been more than a single one, tops. Up ahead was another corner, one Dawn hadn't been down. She guessed that's where the arena May had mentioned was. Dusk stopped before reaching that point. Halfway between the two exits that came strongly not recommended was a wall. Something had clearly happened to it, as it wasn't in a single piece anymore. Instead, an entire section of it was nothing but rubble.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" asked Silver with a scowl.

"We're supposed to go through it." Dusk knelt down and picked up one of the shattered pieces of wall blocking the path. They were decent-sized, but manageable chunks, making the task annoying, but not impossible. "The earthquake probably made this wall collapse. This is where we came out after falling in that trap. Now help me out. And I hope you aren't claustrophobic."

The three Trainers, different opinions as they had with each other most of the time, were forced to cooperate. No matter what size or shape they were, the broken pieces all shared the same fate of being hurled without caution in various directions. It took some time they were wondering if they could really spare, but with reluctant teamwork, they uncovered a path.

A very small path.

"Dusk, I'm smaller than you are, and I don't think I can even fit in that..."

The opening was optimistically a foot or two off the ground. It was wide enough for maybe a body and a half. Silver chose to remain silent as Dusk entered a crawling position.

"Wait until you see inside," he teased with sarcasm. "Tabitha's Sandslash cut through all the...you know, wall and dug a path out. Made it like a slide." He slowly fitted himself into the crevice on the wall. It looked more like he was squirming rather than crawling. When everything from his torso and up was through, he finished his explanation. "Now we need to go up the slide. Oh, and it's really dark in here."

"Anything else?" Dawn moaned, going against her better judgment and falling into a position to follow him.

Silver finally decided to add to the conversation. "Get creative. It could cave in on us. We could spring a leak and be completely trapped without air."

"Or we could stay here and have those things happen anyway," Dusk shouted, making sure his voice was heard outside the cave. "Let's move."

It was terrifying, really. All of Silver's great suggestions helped, too. Dawn was trapped between the two boys on the ascent. She was glad that she had picked up clothes at the mall in Twinleaf Town that were somewhat on the tight side, as anything looser would have been a hindrance at the moment. Still, her unfeeling arm wasn't doing her any favors, and the clothes didn't stop her from wondering what exactly she was crawling on top of. It felt a little bit like metal, and dirt, and insulation, and...

After awhile, she decided to just not think about it.

"Guys...Can you still hear me?"

It was May. Even while climbing up through an enclosed wall, her voice could still be heard rather clearly. There must have been speakers all over this building.

"We looked away, and I lost you. But, if you're there..._please_, hurry. The entrance to the base...i-it's wrecked. The elevator is barely hanging in place. If a few more cords snap, it will float up to the surface. Please, you need to get there before that happens!"

Silver gave a frustrated hum. He was unquestionably the tallest of the three, making this trip probably the least comfortable for him. "No one...better say that we didn't put effort into surviving."

"Unh..." Dawn grunted. "Just keep climbing..."

The fact that they were constantly going uphill only made the going rougher. Dawn's heart was beating out of control, especially as time went on. How durable could "a few cords" be? After what felt like so long, there was a glimmer of hope. Looking past Dusk (which wasn't easy, given the circumstances), she could see what she thought was light. That was close to being confirmed when Umbreon once again spoke up.

"There's one more problem I didn't mention."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," the girl replied.

The topic was dropped for a short period. Dusk began making shuffling noises, then grunting noises. It took Dawn a moment to realize it, but he was forcing himself out of the confines of the cave. That gave her great incentive to speed up, wishing to finally feel something against her back that wasn't jagged wires and who knew what else.

"Still a little tight here. Be careful. We're almost out."

It reached a point where the three could crawl on their hands and knees instead of their stomachs, making the trip go much smoother, if not any less dirty. Dusk knew this as the area that Wizard had initially found. He also knew that meant it wasn't long.

Sure enough, he soon got to his feet. Though he helped Dawn out of the tight space when she followed after him, he decided to let Silver handle himself. For the first time since entering that forsaken thing, they could all stand up straight. Umbreon was now back to where his night had pretty much started. There was a bit more water on the floor this time, though surprisingly not much. Given May's warning, the best part was probably to come.

"So...this part," he started. "I haven't really figured out how we're supposed to get back up to the room yet."

Silver huffed, "That would strike me as an important detail."

"Look." Dusk shifted to where Silver's voice had come from. "I trust May. If we went through any of the other doors, we'd be swimming right now. Pick your poison."

Dawn felt like she was the only rational one here. All of the arguing could wait until they were getting fresh air. If they never got any more fresh air, then the arguing would be pointless anyway. "We can't ask any of our Pokémon to help. All of them got too exhausted during the fight."

Her partner seemed to disregard that advice. "Wizard...You awake yet? C'mon, you can sleep later."

"Chaa..." the mouse squeaked back. His voice was weak, but any reply was better than what Dusk was actually expecting.

"Buddy, look around. You can see way better than we can. Is there anything at all around here we can use to climb up?"

Wizard did as so. He didn't leave the relative comfort of the backpack straight away, but still glanced around the sealed room they were in. His excellent night vision spotted something he didn't see the last time he was in this room.

The Pikachu wiggled himself out of the pack, landing on the cement floor with a quiet "Pika." He scampered over to a wall, splashing some water along the way. When he reached it, he rubbed his paw against it. It was a crack. A tiny crack, granted, but a usable one. He looked upwards. They extended straight to the very top of the trap. It didn't look like they were professionally done, though it did seem they were purposely done. Maybe so whoever created the trap in the first place would have a way of getting out. Regardless, he reported his findings. "Pika! Chu, chu, pika pi!"

"Don't you dare tell me that damn rodent is going to save me," Silver pondered.

"A little ironic, isn't it?" asked the woman standing near him.

Umbreon ignored both of them to answer his Pikachu's call. He felt against the wall and found the same things his friend had. "I think there are footholds here. They aren't deep though, and they're slick from the water. I don't think we get to complain much right now. Head on up first, Wizard."

The mouse didn't have much of a hard time with the obstacle. After all, the escape route may not have been large, but neither was Wizard. He easily leapt up them two at a time, soon reaching the very top where he awaited his Trainers.

As always, Dusk took first position of the humans. He felt it was up to him to test if this was even going to work. Deep down, he knew that it needed to. "Silver, be ready to break my fall with your inflated ego, would you?"

It was rough. It occurred to Dusk only while climbing that ever since he had said the word "earthquake," the night had become an action movie. All they needed was a loose boulder and a couple spike pits, both of which Umbreon fully assumed had been installed somewhere in this base. He entertained the thought of requesting a stunt double, but knew that was nothing more than Brendan rubbing off on him.

Sometimes there just wasn't an option. All of the so-called footholds were pretty poor in use, but some were just downright unhelpful. When he came across those, he used what grip he could get with his feet to launch himself up, past the useless one where he found another indention that was hardly any better.

Halfway up the climb was when he realized that his life depended on about a third of an inch of his fingertips. He quickly tried dismissing that thought, and his Pokémon helped him to do it.

"Piika! Pikachu!"

Wizard was looking in the direction of the exit. Judging by his words, it wasn't very pretty looking up there. "Ugh..." the boy grunted, having nearly missed a step. "Not looking good. We got to get moving. Dawn, start climbing."

"How?!" she shouted, irritated that her own boyfriend had forgotten about her weak arm.

"Dang it...All right, hang on. I'll—"

"Keep _climbing_," the third Trainer in the group demanded. "I'll get the girl."

"You will?" both Trainers asked at the same time. Dawn's words came out with even more surprise than Dusk's.

Silver huffed. "Consider it thanks for distracting that other stupid Rocket, since you certainly didn't help beat him."

That "kindness through cruelness" thing that Gold had mentioned flashed through Dawn's mind, but she spoke nothing.

Up they moved. In spite of the difficulty, Dusk forced himself to climb faster. Dawn, on the other hand, did something she never could have imagined doing under any other circumstances. She threw her arms around Silver's neck, clinging closely to the back of his shirt. A hug it most certainly wasn't, but there wasn't much else to latch on to. The tall Trainer insisted it didn't matter when they started climbing, even though Dawn must have been choking him. If he was going to put his pride aside to help her up here, the least she could do is try not to choke him too much, she figured.

"Guys..." It was May again. She sounded horrified, like she was trying so hard to keep it together. "We...We lost the cameras around the exit. If you're still there, and you can hear this, we can't see you." She said something else. It was rather faint, so they had a feeling she had forgotten to take her finger off the button before saying it. "Please...please be safe."

If hearing May scared to death for their safety wasn't inspiring, not much could be. When he finally reached the top, his Pikachu clamped his hands around a single one of Dusk's fingers and gave a mighty pull. Coming from a one-foot tall mouse, it had no use at all, but the gesture was still appreciated. Even with the less-than-necessary assistance, Dusk heaved himself upwards onto the floor that he had crashed down through at the very start of this event. He rolled over several times and, despite the rush they were in, decided to stay on the floor a moment longer to regain his strength. If he survived this, maybe being a Pokémon Ranger wasn't out of the question after all.

Being quite a bit more athletic than the one before him, Silver had an easier time with the obstacle, even with the human being draped behind his back. Upon reaching the top, Dawn scaled Silver to reach his shoulders, where she was easily able to reach the ground floor.

The room they were in was in terrible condition. The ceiling had about as many holes in it as Sandslash had made digging through that wall. The worst was ahead of them. Water was gushing into the room at an alarming rate, originating from the very staircase that they needed. Before they even got to move far, they saw an object slide down the water ride. It was a security camera, violently torn off from its handle. Dusk and Dawn gave each other a glance, then proceeded to bolt down the last hall before they reached the exit stairs.

They prayed against all hope that an elevator was waiting for them there.

Upon conquering the hall, their hope didn't receive the boost they were hoping for. The stairway they needed to climb was even worse than the hall. A solid stream of water wove its way down each step with enough acceleration that the group needed to slow down just to ascend the steps safely.

If they weren't so close, it was honestly more tempting than it should have been to call it quits. Not even halfway up the stairs, a huge crack in the wall caused a never ending spout of water to burst in. Dusk and Dawn had already gotten past it; Silver got drenched, but was able to recover and move on before slipping all the way back down. This was it. No more hallways, and certainly no more climbing. All they had to do was finish these stairs. The short road that led straight to the elevator was next.

So when Umbreon reached the third to last step, the two behind him were left unsure why he stopped moving.

"What the hell is this?" scolded Silver. "Get going!"

Dusk reluctantly obeyed. He still didn't move as swiftly as he had been, but he still defeated the stairs. Dawn wasn't far behind him, and when she reached the same step her close friend did, she soon realized why he had gotten distracted like that.

The water was shin-high. Leaks everywhere; broken ceiling, wall, and floor floating. As far as destroyed underwater buildings went, it couldn't get much worse than this room here. Beyond all of it was news that could have made all of them ecstatic. Though dangling precariously in its spot, the elevator, doors wide open, was waiting for them. A full-steam charge would have been called without issue, had it not been for one last obstacle Dusk wasn't ready for.

Her hood was down. She probably thought it was better that way. Dusk had known her his entire life, but not in that Magma garb. The least she could do was keep her ponytail revealed.

She stood not all that far from their only means of escape. Facing them with an expression that could only be called unreadable. She seemed happy they were here, but sad that it had come to this. "Umbreon..."

Dusk kept his distance from the adult woman, but neared enough that he could talk with her. Dawn stayed closely by his side. Conversely, Silver kept a few steps away. The oldest Trainer knew they shouldn't stay here, but his constant yearn to watch Dusk's reactions to difficult situations convinced him to hang around for a minute. "Ma," the boy wearing a beret finally stated.

Johanne showed her first noticeable emotion. She gave her eyes a quick wipe, probably ridding tears from them. "So much to say, isn't there?"

"No, not really." Dawn looked at her boyfriend. The only emotion he had was the one that seemed to drive him anywhere: anger. "You lied to me about almost everything. The rest of the stuff you just kept from me. What else is there to say?"

"I had reasons, Umbreon!" she bit back. The vigor didn't last long. "I had...bad reasons. I thought I could protect you from all of this. I thought we could have a life somewhere else. I thought...wrong. All I did was build this web of lies that I lost track of so many years ago. All I did was take you away from your family."

Umbreon pounded his left fist into the wall. Dawn was somewhat expecting that to break the fragile thing and let loose another flood of water, but was rather glad when she was wrong. "You _were_ my family, Mom!" Dusk shouted. "I've been doing just fine without a dad or a sister up to this point. This whole thing. This...second rising of Team Magma. You started it by coming back here, didn't you? Maxie wouldn't have burned a town and had so many people killed under my name if you didn't rush back to him, would he have?"

"Dusk, I know this is hard..." Dawn paused when she spotted that one moment when Dusk wanted to snap at her. He didn't, though, and that helped her to stay calm. "We shouldn't stay down here much longer."

"I'm sorry...Dawn." Both of them turned their heads back to Johanne. Two tear streaks were running down her face now. "For the first time in his life, our family can be together again. I don't want Umbreon to leave."

It seemed like as good a time as any to quote May. She had said a similar thing to a different one of Dusk's relatives not so long ago. "You're mad..."

"Mom..." Umbreon closed his eyes in preparation for his next words. "Please don't make me do something I'll regret."

"I'm not moving, Umbreon. I don't care what—"

His mother's sentence ended early. Before she realized it, a handgun was being pointed at her. Roark's blood had stained the metal by now. Dusk thought nothing of that as he flipped the safety switch off. After that, however, his index finger didn't end up very close to the trigger. It rested outside of it.

Johanne took a breath. It was a long, shaky breath, but she still resumed her previous thought. "—what you do to me, I'm not moving."

The two quieter ones around reacted probably the most to that development. The Pikachu, nothing but its neck hanging above the water, stared at the weapon in his Trainer's hand with a gaping mouth. Silver, however, took a more proactive approach. He stepped forward to reach the other two. Gently, he brought his arm forward and pushed down on Umbreon's own extended limb a bit. "Aim just a little bit lower," he suggested. "Right between the eyes."

"Silver, don't you—"

This time, it was Dawn's sentence that didn't get very far. Silver stood back, folded his arms, and watched. "In the next thirty seconds, our conversation before is about to be answered. Let's see who was right about this boy."

Johanne knew the situation she was in. And smiled. "Your sister needed someone like you, Umbreon," she started. "I've gotten to know her lately. She was a strong-willed girl, a natural leader, but...so alone. There was no one around here for her to talk to. Give orders to, maybe, but not to talk to. As I got to know her, I couldn't believe how much she resembled you. Knowing who was below you in the chain, and refusing to answer to them...You two had so much in common."

Dawn again looked at the one she was closest to. His expression had changed to something she couldn't figure out. Still, his trigger finger wasn't really all that close to doing anything.

"I took that away from you," Johanne went on. "No one else. All of this pain and destruction starts and ends with me. One way or the other, I'm paying for what I've done tonight. But...you don't need to be alone, Umbreon. You can meet your family tonight. Your real family."

Dusk finally spoke. Given that he was the center of attention, everything around them quieted for his sake. As soon as his words left his lips, Silver began grinning. "I'm sorry, Ma. To be honest with you, I think I found friends that make up a pretty good family." He paused for a moment. "But..." Again, there was a short break between his words. Then, two things lowered themselves, one right after the other. First was Umbreon's arm, then it was Silver's smirk. "I can't do this."

With a rush of mixed emotions attacking him from every angle, Dusk let the gun slip out of his hand, his finger never even feeling the trigger. The weapon splashed when it hit the water-soaked floor, and immediately after got carried away by it. The metallic object swam between Silver's legs and made some clanking noises as it fell down the stairs behind him.

His hand wasn't left unoccupied for long. A certain Pikachu leapt from the water, climbing up Dusk's entire arm to reach his shoulder. There he gave it a tight Pikachu hug. "Pika pi!"

Not all dissimilar, Dawn hugged his entire body from the opposite side Wizard was on. Dusk used one hand to stroke behind Wizard's ears, and the other to rub Dawn's back. Unlike Silver, there was a grin on his face. "I'd be no better than my imposter if I did that."

Silver snarled. He was steaming—his face was almost as red as his hair. "Your imposter has something on you that you're not about to. He's _still alive._"

"Umbreon..." Johanne started.

She didn't get to finish.

A certain section of the wall beside the woman exploded. The pieces crumbled and water instantly began pouring in. However, the liquid wasn't the only thing rushing in. A figure draconic in shape didn't cease its momentum after crashing into the outside wall, tackling Johanne straight into the opposite one. It exited the now-constant stream, floating above it while water dripped from its wings. "Raa tio!"

"Latios, you came back..." Dawn muttered, practically to herself.

"The way is clear," Silver announced, should it not have been obvious enough. "Let's _go._"

The co-leader of Team Magma rolled to the side, preventing herself from getting drenched by the incoming torrent. However, she didn't get up. Her back rested against the wall. She didn't move from there.

The trio ran forward, but two of them stopped. Silver bolted past them and reached the elevator. When he turned around and realized he wasn't followed, he looked exasperated, but didn't say anything.

The other two weren't even paying attention to him. Instead, they were looking down at Dusk's mother. Dawn began to bend down to help her up, but she didn't make it halfway there before being interrupted.

"No," said the woman, shooing Dawn's helpful hand away with her own. "No more second chances for me. I needed to choose a path. I did, and this is where it led me. There's nothing else in your way of the elevator. Go."

Dawn blinked her eyes. Water was blocking her vision, but it wasn't from the collapsing base. "Johanne, we can't just leave you here!"

"Dawn..." Despite the odd circumstances, the other female smiled. "All those things I said about you. I was wrong about all of them, too. If you didn't love Umbreon, you wouldn't be in this place right now."

The pair of Sinnoh Trainers could only respond to that with a look at each other. Before anything could be said, a fourth voice interrupted them. "In case you aren't aware of this, she's _stalling you_," Silver growled. "Let's go!"

With an unsure glance at Johanne by Dawn, and a knowing glance at her by Dusk, the pair ran the short distance to get inside the elevator. Silver already had the doors closing by the time they got inside.

"Umbreon..."

The boy turned his neck around to see his mother out of the corner of his eye. It lasted but a second. The doors shut on him afterwards.

"I love you."

Latios looked at his entrance. He probably wasn't getting back through there. Forgoing that, he simply blasted his way through a different section of the wall and back out into the lake.

He followed the elevator as it slowly made its way upwards, away from its home and the people living and dead that were stuck there.

-**OAM**-

"Dusk..."

The elevator was so much less crowded than it was before. It once held what was close to an army. And now there were just three. This made it much more quiet. It didn't help that a third of them had gotten to the small window that the ride had and hadn't moved since. The entire vehicle was moving slower than it had the first time, but considering the condition its electronic parts must be in, they weren't going to complain.

Once upon a time, Dawn could spot a lie like an expert. She had a good idea what other people were thinking. Not an empathist, just a gut feeling. Her ability was failing her miserably at the moment. "I can't even begin to imagine how you're feeling. You...know that we can talk about it, right?"

Dusk sighed. It was barely noticeable—it was more like a slightly heavier breath than normal than anything else. Still, his eyes didn't stray from the window. "May and Roark were close. We should ask her if he ever mentioned family or friends. They should probably know."

Dawn's eyes fell to the ground. She acknowledged what those words truly meant. Maybe they could talk about it, but apparently not now. "Yeah..."

"And what of you?" Dusk finally moved his gaze, this time towards a quiet corner of the elevator. "There wasn't much forcing you to hold the door open for us."

"Hmph." Silver folded his arms and looked in a different direction. Nothing specific was over there, though. "I'm not done with you yet. I'm drawing out the best in you if it's the last damn thing I do."

Umbreon put on a small smile. As he did, he turned back to his window. "If you say so."

The blue-haired Trainer began the process of lifting her arm up. It was her goal to check her Pokétch to see just how long that event had taken them, but she didn't make it that far. She suddenly lost her balance, as did the other two in the elevator.

Just below them in the pond, a single cord had been attached to the oversized box. It was the only thing giving it orders and preventing the contraption's natural design from causing it to rapidly float to the surface. With all the support around it having been torn away over the night, the lone wire lost the rest of its durability. It snapped in two, not that the sound could be heard inside.

The elevator began a mad, unsafe dash upwards. Had any of the three had the reaction time to do something, there was nothing to do. The force was far too powerful to stand up. There was a short burst of a scream at the initial surprise, but it faded as soon as it was realized it wasn't helping anything.

Silver managed to get words out. "When this thing hits the surface, we're going to—"

_Thud._

They slowed drastically. Not to the snail's pace they had been going before, but not even remotely as fast as they just had been, either. It took her a moment, but placing together the series of events coupled with that sound, Dawn figured out what happened first. She closed her eyes, sighed in relief, and refused to get up at the moment. "Latios stopped it..."

Even though Silver started to climb back to his feet, Dusk was more than content following his friend's example. "How many times has he saved our lives tonight? I lost count."

It was a much more pleasant ride the rest of the way to the surface.


	32. Thanks for the Memories

The team all the way up on solid land had hired a scout. Latias had been given the job of watching the pond and alerting them as soon as anything happened. One way or another, they knew, that elevator was hitting the surface. So when the Eon dragon had watched as not only her partner rose from the water, but an elevator containing the rest of the unit, it wasn't a surprise she wasted no time in flying inside the Gym and screeching joyously. At varying speeds, every person inside the Petalburg Gym exited it, those closer to the remaining teammates generally rushing a bit faster.

"Dawn! Umbry!"

Winded from their recent trip in an untethered elevator, not to mention the rest of the early morning, the two summoned Trainers turned their heads up. The first things they saw were their two Hoenn friends bolting towards them.

"Umbry, you—"

Before Brendan could get any farther, May had already tackle-hugged his intended conversation partner. Her boyfriend cleared his throat and tried again. "Things looked a little sketchy down there, eh, Dawn? You doing—"

May extended her arm, grabbing the other remaining nearby Sinnoh Trainer into the three-person hug fest.

With that, Brendan put his hands on his hips and stared at the back of May's head. "All right. Just let me know when you're done with them. I'll take a number and go sit down, okay?"

"Sorry..." she said quietly. It didn't sound like it was very sincere, but it was forgiven, considering everything. It was the extreme early hours of the morning, and tears could still be seen in the corner of her eyes. "I was just so worried. So, so worried..."

"We're fine, May," Dusk stated in a forsaken effort to calm her down. "Mostly because of Latios."

The four of them turned towards the sky. There, Latias was rubbing her head against Latios's neck while being held in his arms. Appreciation, they were sure, for saving her friends' lives. "Looks like he'll be getting his reward later," offered Brendan.

May returned that with a rather dangerous glare. "Brendan!"

The moment was broken up (rather mercifully, as far as Brendan was concerned) when a fifth entity joined the conversation. "Where is he? Where's my man?"

Gold came running along in the same direction the other two had come from. However, upon reaching the group, he didn't stop immediately. He kept going to get to Umbreon's backside. Only there did he find a Pikachu, too exhausted to sleep, resting on top of his Trainer's backpack. Upon seeing the recognition from Gold, the mouse's face lit up a bit.

Before long, Wizard found himself flying through the air as Gold held him up while spinning himself in circles. "Aww, yeah! DJ P in 'da house!"

"Chuu chu, pika Pi!"

Dawn was smiling at that scene, but turned her attention away soon. It went back to the immediate group in front of her. "Listen, I'm glad none of us are hurt, but I need to go find someone. I'll be right back, okay?"

There wasn't time to figure out what the girl had just ran off to do. A strong "hmph" made sure of that. "I'm out of here," stated Silver, his hands falling into his pockets while his face remained as apathetic as ever. "As great as I'm sure the fruit punch will be at the party, I have better things to do. You'll hear from me, Dusk."

"Won't that be a chilling day," wondered Umbreon, watching with the rest of his friends as the red-haired Trainer walked away.

Brendan was the first to turn his head. "You going after him?" he asked Gold.

"Guess I could," he replied. He was holding Wizard in one hand and scratching the top of the mouse's head with the other, but he seemed rather distracted, much to Wizard's disappointment. "If I know Silver, he'll want to gloat about how good he was tonight. Someone might as well keep him company."

Before he had even finished saying that, Brendan was offering a hand to him. Gold quickly grabbed it and maintained a firm grip on it. "Good luck having fun without us."

"It's been real, man!" Gold exclaimed. "We're doing this again sometime!"

Before taking off, he lifted the yellow mouse into the air one more time. "And you. Make sure you keep these people in line, would you?"

"Chaa!" the Pikachu shouted, enjoying the second air ride.

Finally, he extended his arm out and let the mouse run back to the shoulder of his actual Trainer. Afterwards, he turned around so he could continue talking to his friends and began jogging backwards, in the direction Silver had gone. "Take it easy! Hit me up sometime!"

Dusk, Brendan, and May all waved to him as he swiftly disappeared into darkness. They could tell he was using his gifted agility to catch up to the speed-walking Trainer he was after.

"I've finally decided, Dusk."

Another interruption. This one had a booming voice that demanded respect, so it was a bit harder to turn away than the others. Once more in the direction of the Gym, the heavyweight Aqua leader was waiting for them. His arms were folded, but there was a smirk that was almost playful across his face.

"Your method for dealing with Maxie. I've decided it was insane."

Recognizing that somewhere along the line the two of them had formed a unique bond, Dusk stepped forward to talk with Archie more privately. He chuckled at the attempted humor. "It worked well enough, right?"

"Perhaps too well." He turned around so the two of them were now facing the same direction as each other. They could see a hoard of Magma clothes sprawled out in the area ahead of them, interacting with each other like a family would be expected to. Now that the fighting was over, it was probably like any other day to them, except they happened to be out of the desert. "I wonder, was it truly your intention for this battle to end the way that it did?"

Dusk chose to mimic the pose of the man he was standing beside. Together they stood there, arms folded. Dusk was almost comically smaller in stature than the other man, but he felt the intimidation was unintentional. "He's stopped. Isn't that all that matters?"

"Perhaps it is."

Archie took a long pause. What he was debating himself on, Dusk wasn't sure. Even with the long break, he was still the one to speak next. "Your friend found Maxie's diary." Dusk shifted his glance in interest, but didn't interrupt. "He found the entry about you, and things suddenly began coming clear to me. Fourteen years ago, Magma changed drastically. They were always cynical, but they used to be tactical as well. They changed and became barbarians instead, something that left us Aquas confused. For a short time, their misguidance helped us to fight them. It wasn't long until Tabitha came around, however, and apparently it was him that set them on a less rage-fueled path. Their recent attack on the city, and the trouble they have caused your name...It reminded me of those days when it appeared Magma didn't know what they were doing."

The buff man stopped for a breath. When he resumed, there wasn't much left to the story. "Fourteen years ago that happened. Fourteen years ago, you were born, and your mother left with you. I've noticed she's not to be found tonight. I don't know what happened, and I won't ask you to tell me. I just thought you should know how much of a role your mother played in Team Magma's history."

Dusk was silent for a short time. Archie had a noticeable habit of bringing up bad topics. They genuinely seemed accidental, but still. To stray slightly, he changed the subject. "So what part did you play in this? Why would Maxie make you a Magma admin?"

That got the man to laugh. Still, his gaze stayed mostly on all of the men and women in red clothing he had come to call his own. "Only a madman like Maxie would know the answer to that question. I suppose these events have left me unemployed, though."

"So what's next for you?"

The laughter subsided. He seemed to give that question quite some serious thought. "These events have also opened my eyes, as it were. How foolish both Aqua and Magma truly were. I'm not much less guilty than Maxie was. Perhaps it is time to turn myself in. Or perhaps I'll find a new life somewhere. It is my wish our paths will cross again, Dusk. Unfortunately, the time has come for me to leave."

"I don't think we could have done this without you," Dusk admitted.

Archie patted the shoulder of the boy next to him. Umbreon thought he felt himself get dropped a few inches into the ground at the man's touch, but assumed it was his tired imagination. "I choose to believe it was your unrivaled leadership skills. No matter of your emotions, be proud that you have acquired a skill as sought after as that."

Dusk was left standing there with those words. Archie abandoned him in favor of the Magmas the two of them had been absently watching over. He wondered if the man was saying his farewells to the team, but didn't go far with the thought. He was soon greeted by Max and Professor Birch, along with the two friends that were behind him.

-**OAM**-

"You coming to me, huh? Can't really say I saw this one coming."

A hard man to track down, this one. Dawn had silently been searching through the crowd of Magmas for at least five minutes before realizing the one she was looking for wasn't even in there. After more time spent searching, she found the Magma admin sitting at the base of a nearby tree, his bright clothes made invisible by the darkness of night. It only seemed right for her to search him out, but now that she had found him, it didn't seem like quite as good of an idea. The two hadn't interacted more than a handful of times. All in hindsight, really.

"Yeah," she answered, in spite of her feelings. "I just wanted to...you know, see how you were doing."

"How I'm doing?" Tabitha repeated. He paused for a moment, choosing his words. "Well, I've been better. Been worse too, to be fair."

Though it made an awkward situation worse, Dawn chose to remain standing while Tabitha stayed on the grass. Her arms were folded, but in her defense, it was a little chilly outside. Besides, pointlessly itching her sides gave her something to do. "It's kind of personal, but can I ask you something? You and Key..."

At that, he broke out in a chortle. "'Me and Key,'" he echoed. "A lot of things can follow a start like that."

"What happened?"

Tabitha shrugged. The lighting made it hard to see, but his personality didn't make it hard to believe. "I'm a little older than her. Thought she was cute. It wasn't mutual. Truth be told, I think she might have grown to resent me. I was her dad's go-to guy. She probably thought it should be her."

Dawn kicked at the ground. It occurred to her she needed to find a new nervous habit. "I'm sorry things worked out the way they did."

Another shrug. "Eh. You wouldn't hear me call this a safe line of work. Besides, you lost that odd little friend of yours. Sorry about that."

"Friend...Yeah, I guess he was." Dawn reached into her bag. She was shuffling around it practically blind, but she wasn't in a rush to find what she was looking for either. "I want you to have something."

Another laugh. This one was even quieter than the first, though. "If it's some sort of memento for Key, keep it. End of the day, we barely classified as coworkers, far less anything I need to remember her by."

"Well, it's kind of by her, I guess."

She finally found it. For a moment, she held onto it; then she hesitated and held on another moment longer. Finally, Dawn kissed the item, then softly tossed it underhand at Tabitha. He caught it, but couldn't see what it was. Only that it was a small orb. "That's Starlight's Pokéball. Or KX...what was it? At least, I hope that's Starlight's..."

Dawn continued looking through her own bag, making sure the rest of her Pokémon were all accounted for. Knowing what it was, Tabitha was able to identify the 'M' on the ball, but something stopped him from letting Dawn know that. "This some kind of joke? You do know how rare this thing is, don't you?"

"The rarity of a Pokémon isn't important to me," she replied, giving up on the search through her pitch-black handbag. "It's more important to be friends with your Pokémon. I already knew that, but seeing how you treat your Pokémon gave me a reminder of it. As much as I love Starlight, I don't think I'll ever get her to see me as a friend. When I think about that, I can't forget how you treated your Jolteon...Anyway, I know you'll take care of her."

A smile. A couple laughs, too. Unlike the past couple, they were sincere chuckles. "You know what? Coming from you, that means a lot. Thanks, Dawn. I think Starlight and I will get along just fine."

The fact that Tabitha didn't hesitate to use the Absol's nickname, rather than the laboratory name he had referred to her as up to this point, gave more reassurance than Dawn even needed. She returned that smile. And just like that, their conversation didn't seem quite as awkward. "So what's next for you, now that we're...well, done with that?"

Tabitha rested his arm against his knee. Hanging limply in the air was the ball containing his new Pokémon. "Who knows. I got a good crew over there. We'll figure something out. What about you?"

That question made Dawn turn in a different direction. She looked over at the group surrounding Dusk, deciding she should probably return to them soon. "That's a good question."

"Listen, Dawn," he began. "Since you're here, I got thinking. You and me should have a battle."

"What?!" the girl shouted, only narrowly remembering how early in the morning it was. "Now?"

Tabitha laughed one more time. "No way. I think all of us have had enough battles to last us a little while. No, next time we meet up. This time, there isn't as good of a chance I'll have trapped your friends in a sweltering base."

Dawn grinned. "Going legit, huh?"

The admin made himself more comfortable while leaning against the tree. He let himself heave a sigh before answering. "I'll always consider myself a Magma. Bled for that team. It just don't mean crap anymore, you know? Might as well see what else is out there." One more sigh. "You don't want to spend the rest of the night hanging out with me. Go celebrate with your friends. I was watching on the screen and saw that you almost didn't have that opportunity."

"Yeah," she replied. "I was there." She took a short break between her words to let Tabitha differentiate between the satire and the words she meant. "Thank you for all of your help, Tabitha."

"You're the ones that did a favor for me. I appreciate it."

Dawn left the man sitting where he was. She wouldn't deny that she'd prefer being around Dusk at the moment than the admin, but she walked away glad that she had taken the time to look for him anyway.

-**OAM**-

Time passed. Fifteen minutes, maybe. Now that Dawn thought about it, she never did check her watch. It wasn't too important. Sleep was something fairly unlikely, so time didn't matter much. The area outside the pond had become far less populated. The vast majority of the Magma allies left in the same direction—not on flying Pokémon and in the opposite direction of the desert. Professor Birch and Max alike retired to guest rooms in the Gym. Now that they knew no one was hurt by it, both of them alike refused to go to bed until they got a promise that the team would share what it was like fighting against a legendary creature like Groudon. The Eon dragons, exhausted from their many battles over the night, weren't far behind them. As the remaining bits of the group looked out at the pond and the black brick of an elevator that was floating uselessly in it, Wizard hadn't found this stimulating enough and fell unconscious into the grass.

That left only the group of Dusk, Dawn, Brendan and May. In the morning, they knew, police would find a rather out-of-place elevator and a long and confusing investigation would take place. But for the next few hours, it was just the four of them. All of them disliked the idea of it being anything different.

"So, I guess your mom..." Brendan trailed off there.

Like the window back in the elevator, Dusk kept his gaze solely on the water. All of his friends were beside him, but he didn't really want to meet any of their eyes. "Yeah. She didn't make it out either."

"Man, Umbry...That's—"

Dusk shook his head. The moon had escaped the blockade of clouds, making the gesture noticeable out here in the night. "My family made choices, and so did I. Let's leave it at that for now."

Moments of silence passed. A gentle breeze assaulted them from the north, but it was negligible. It was even forgotten when Brendan opened his mouth next. "Quick, May, don't say anything."

He got even the recipient of the joke to giggle at it. May was the only one of the four sitting on the grass. No one was about to tell her so, but she looked less complete without a bandana from this angle. Eventually, she thought she should make sure her voice box still worked. "So, I guess you two are probably going to go home soon."

If they were expecting her to say something, that probably wasn't it. Dusk and Dawn, once again through the blackness of night, shared a glance with one another. "Didn't really think that far ahead," confessed the boy.

Dawn added on, "We weren't sure if we needed to until we got out of that place."

"Eh." Brendan picked up a rock and attempted to skim it across the surface of the pond. It sank straight into it. He hoped that's what his friends thought he wanted it to do. "I knew you two would be fine. You're two for two now, on the whole escaping certain doom thing."

Umbreon thought on those words, and after some time he sighed. "I feel like we should be getting paid for doing this."

"Good karma?" offered Dawn.

Brendan was quick to add, "How much will that and a nickel get you?"

The three of them laughed. It subsided soon when they realized their fourth wasn't joining in. Brendan transitioned rather smoothly between laughter and clearing his throat. "It's, uh, been a long night. Why don't we try getting some sleep?"

"I'll be there in a minute," May said.

Dusk gave an unintentional sigh, then made a motion with his head signaling the other two to head for the Gym.

"Right," agreed Brendan, not helping Dusk out with his silent plan. "Let's go, Dawn. The beds are probably taken, but I'm sure we can find a litter box for you to sleep in."

Dawn, gripping her carry-all with only her index finger, gave a quick chase after the exiting Trainer. "Wait, was that a cat joke?"

"Ah, ha ha...cute."

The other two were left alone now. May was smiling because of Dusk wanting to speak privately with her, but was careful not to let him see it. The air was still cool, but it felt haunted and...not right. The war had been won, but the price for it was too high. They had lost friends and enemies at Mount Coronet too, but not like what happened in that undersea base. It felt so much more personal there. Not to mention how close they were to losing two other, very important friends.

Her thoughts were broken up when a single word was uttered. "Lieutenant?"

May couldn't stifle the laugh at being addressed by her rank, not that she tried.

Dusk sat down on the grass next to her. The exhausted Trainers were left staring over the pond. "You're going to need sleep," he broached.

The voice May used wasn't going to do her any favors. It didn't betray how tired she felt, anyway. "I can't sleep. I keep thinking about everything that happened tonight."

"Roark," Dusk stated, using that as his guess.

She didn't let him get far with it. As soon as he had finished with the name, she turned her head in his direction. "And you. I have the right to be worried about you, too."

"If this is about when Key asked me to join Magma—"

"No, it's about all of it," she interrupted using brashness she didn't know she had. She chocked it up to being so tired. "A lot of things, too many things happened tonight. I'll understand if you're not ready to talk about them, but one way or the other won't get it off my mind."

Dusk had seen the friend sitting next to him do something once. She had picked up a twig, then broke it into the tiniest pieces she could. Finding a small branch he could use, he discovered it's actually pretty effective as a distraction. "You know, when she asked me that, two things ran through my mind. One of them was what we were talking about just before this started."

"What drives you?" May questioned.

"I was going to say my anger issues, but that sounds like a better way to put it." May granted him a chuckle. "That made me think back to the desert. That wasn't my finest moment. Made me wish we'd had that talk before that."

"I'm glad things happened the way they did."

Dusk took a break from snapping the twig in front of him and looked at May in interest. "That didn't seem to work out too well for you guys."

"But we made it out," she countered, though enough shyness seeped through to make her gaze return to the ground. "And it showed me a part of you that I've come to like a lot. You only fight for the things you truly believe in, and there's nothing wrong with doing that."

"Kinda funny," he thought out loud. "This all started because some thug thought he could bag Wizard."

May smirked. A part of her wanted to know why the last subject had veered off, but she let her friend keep his secrets. "It would be nice to someday travel with you when the world isn't at stake."

"Good luck getting that scheduled." Again, he successfully got a pleased, if not tired laugh out of her. In a way, it was accidental. He was too focused on what he was about to say to worry much about it. "May, I need to ask you something."

Somewhere inside of her, May first thought he was going to ask her the follow-up question that she had been hoping for. The awkwardness probably couldn't be overstated if she was wrong, however, so she decided to play it safe rather than assume. "What is it?"

The question didn't come before a few extra moments. "When you were holding onto Key...did it feel like you could have done more?"

That was sort of a double whammy. It certainly wasn't the inquiry she wanted. The topic that it turned out to be wasn't too great, either. Her eyes shifted to the almost unmoving lake. "Brendan said it was bad. She was our enemy, but if it's because she was your sister, I really am sorry—"

"No, it's not that." It had just happened, true. And he was hoping to get some sleep in before this crossed his mind again. But if there was anyone he could tell the story to right now, it was the young woman sitting on the grass beside him. "When we got to the elevator, my mom was there." He saw May's head jerk towards his direction in surprise, but tried not to react to it. "She ended up getting pushed aside. Dawn tried helping her up, but she...slapped the hand away."

"Umbreon...I should have known something was wrong. When she didn't follow us—Oh, Umbreon, I'm so sorry."

"We could have forced her into that box." His head hung low on his neck. "But we didn't, did we."

May entered the subject with no less caution than she felt was necessary. "If you're asking for my opinion, I think you did the right thing. The two situations aren't so similar. Johanne...your mom could have fought you off or injured you. Besides, you had a time limit that I didn't. I don't believe any life should be sacrificed for anything. But...I fully realize that in situations as dire as that one, that's just not realistic." That went well enough. Feeling bold, she pressed her luck. "Were you...very close with your mom?"

"At one time. She started to change a lot. After I found out she was a part of Magma, all the little lies she's told me through life started to come back to me." He added, "By the time I saw her tonight, I despised her a little."

The Sinnoh Trainer knew that his friend's intentions were good. So were Archie's, however, and right now he decided wasn't a good time to talk about his mother much. For the first time in quite awhile, he turned away from the water and headed for the knocked out Pikachu that was a short distance away. "I think it's bedtime, May."

Umbreon picked Wizard up and cradled him softly in his arms. If he didn't know any better, he would think that the mouse still felt warm from when Nuclear nearly cooked him. He didn't make it very far before May sprung to her feet. "Wait."

Behind May's eyes, the situation was frightening. Where all this confidence came from at three-quarters of the way to sunrise she didn't know. She had surprised herself very much by just saying that one word. Unfortunately for her, it meant that she needed to add onto it. Especially after Dusk turned back around at the beckon. With a large inhale, she forced the words out of her mouth.

"I need to ask you something, too."

-**OAM**-

Dawn was standing in front of her bed. In front of her was her holdall, which she was shuffling through. It was being done with no set goal in mind, though. She'd been to the washroom, cleaned herself up a bit, made it back to the bedroom she had been led to, and the other two still weren't back inside yet. The room was the one she had taken Dusk to during the storm...or if it wasn't the same, it was strikingly similar. She didn't care that much, honestly. There were four beds. Brendan was already laying down in one, but it didn't look like he was putting much effort into falling asleep. The girl hadn't even gotten that far. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that what May said was true. She and Dusk probably weren't going to be in Hoenn much longer. It made her think back to how Brendan reacted back in Sinnoh when the roles were reversed, and somehow it just made her too antsy to sleep.

Besides, the lights in the room were still on.

"Another one down, huh?"

Conversation had been unusually quiet between the two of them up until now. The words startled Dawn a bit. "Hm?"

"Galactic. Magma. Should we start going after sports teams next?"

It occurred to the young woman that perhaps mindlessly searching through her handbag would sooner or later draw the attention she was trying to avoid. When she found her hairbrush, she figured she could safely use that for a few minutes. She sat down on the bed directly next to her bag and laughed at Brendan's question. "My mom loved every sport that's out there. Let's just make sure to avoid her favorite teams."

There was a pause. She only found out why a few seconds into it, when her gaze changed from the bland wall to Brendan, where she found him looking back at her. "What?"

He must have realized what he was doing and resumed his watch of the ceiling straight above him. "Nothing. Just, uh, I don't hear you talk about your mom that much."

That statement was enough for Dawn to take her own pause and mentally rewind to what she had just said. Where did that even come from? ...Had it been that long of a day? The hairbrush fell out of her hair, but her gaze met it as she rotated it in her hands. "Oh."

"Look, Dawn. I'm glad I got you alone. I'm just going to say this." Brendan sat up in bed, though he wasn't bothered enough to even drop his feet to the floor. "When everything that happened tonight finally hits Umbry, it's going to hit him like a Machamp on Thursday. He's going to need a friend like you. Be there for him."

The hairbrush remained overall unappealing. "I know. Trust me, I know. The only thing I've been thinking about since we got out of that place is that not only did he meet his family..."

Usually Brendan and Dawn, to a certain extent, were on a similar wavelength. With Dusk often being serious, and May being...May, the opposite two could rely on each other for a surprisingly competitive level of wit. So when Brendan didn't finish her sentence for her, she was left not only mildly disappointed, but also nervous that she still needed to finish it herself.

"He sort of...watched them all die, too. Even if they were all enemies, I can't help but feel like a part of him wanted this to end differently somehow."

"It could have never happened. That would have been nice." Apparently, Brendan was comfortable enough to slide back into his previous position. His head was in his hands, and his hands were on the pillow. "Are you going to be all right?"

Dawn forced a laugh. It wasn't great, so to cover it up, she stood back up and found a spot in her bag for her hairbrush. She'd barely used it. "You make it sound like that's the first collapsing building I've been in."

She heard a snort of satisfaction from behind her. "I know this hit closer to home for both of you than either of you were expecting."

The Sinnoh Trainer took a deep breath. She didn't turn around, but she did realize how useless it was to pretend she was looking for something inside of that stupid bag. "I'm going to try to set that aside for awhile. Dusk will need me too much to worry about myself right now."

She took a short length of time before turning her head over her shoulder. Her expression was one of realization and moderate surprise. "Since when are you so serious?"

"Am I getting docked points because I want my friends to be all right?"

That wasn't it. Dawn could spot a lie when she heard one. It wasn't necessarily a lie, of course. More like not the full truth. She was debating if she should press harder when her thoughts were interrupted by a door opening. It was the outside doors to the Gym, but they were noticeable enough to be heard in a bedroom with a shut door. She knew she didn't have the time to question it anymore, but that didn't help her curiosity. Maybe, with them leaving soon, Brendan was just feeling protective. Either way, she wouldn't get her answer right now.

It wasn't very long before the remaining two Trainers found their way into the bedroom with just enough remaining beds. The first thing discussed was Brendan announcing to the group that he had rather specific business to attend to. The Trainer proceeded to head to the restroom that was all the way down the hall, ignoring the disgusted, winded, or in May's case, blank looks as he passed by them all.

That left only three in the room for the moment. Dusk seemed to mind himself, throwing his backpack beside his bed, setting his unique hat on top of it, then dropping an unconscious Wizard on the side of his pillow.

While that went on, May wasn't doing those things.

She was standing in front of Dawn. Her hands were holding one another, though there didn't seem to be a notable reason why. Her face was mixed with hopefulness along with understandable tiredness. Dawn, also understandably, was looking up at her, awaiting an explanation of why she was so close. She could only imagine what her expression was. "Err..."

"Oh." That simple uttering made Dawn wonder if the other woman had lost her train of thought somewhere along the way over here. "Um...We were hoping to ask you something. For your permission, more specifically."

"My...permission?"

-**OAM**-

All of their minds were racing. Given just how many things had happened recently, both physical and emotional, it was to be expected. Still, no matter how strongly the four Trainers had been affected, destroying a criminal organization while already past their bedtimes was bound to leave them exhausted. They all got some level of sleep that night. It was unfortunate, then, that they had gotten to bed when there was only about three hours left to the night. The bedroom door opened up.

Brendan was on the other side. He had gotten up earlier than the other three. Not necessarily on his own accord, but at least he'd gotten a bit of work done. Minding the nearly-full cup of coffee that was in his hands, he stepped into the room as lightly as he could. "Dawn, Umbry," he uttered, hoping to keep the unmentioned one fast asleep. "Get up."

A bit more enticing was needed. Brendan gave a light shake to Dawn's shoulder, then walked over to the bed on the opposite side of the room and gave Umbreon a not-as-light kick in the backside.

"Ugh, what do you want?" whispered Dusk, switching his position on the bed to prevent Brendan from kicking him again. "I was having a dream where you didn't just do that."

"Yeah, well, thank me later." Seeing Dawn rise from her sleeping position, he knew he'd gotten both of their attentions. He felt that deserved a quick sip of instant coffee. "I think people might have put two and two together already," he explained, hoping that May wasn't just pretending to sleep over there. "Some of our probably-not-adoring fans have been banging on the Gym doors for almost an hour now."

"You're kidding me," Dawn wondered, beginning to wake up more already. "They found out it was us that fast?"

"Apparently." Another sip. For instant coffee, it really wasn't too bad. "Look, I was hoping for karaoke as much as you all were, but you two need to get going. Your chariots are fed and waiting in the other room. You can head out the back and avoid them all."

"Fine, already." Not bothering to hide that he was grumpy at his alarm clock, Dusk rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. "Just give us a minute."

"You got thirty seconds, starting from a minute ago. Vamonos!"

Brendan stepped outside the room. The Gym doors were still locked in place, thankfully. The banging and shouting seemed to have died down for now, but the Trainer didn't need superpowers to know that a swarm of news reporters were still outside those doors. His mind wavered to what he was going to tell them once the two left, since obviously he wasn't going to give them the real story. Different country or not, that would draw too much attention to Dusk that he didn't need right now. Besides, Brendan decided he wanted a laser cannon from space to be involved somehow.

Dusk was the first one to run out of the room. His hat was equipped, his backpack was on, and there was a conscious yellow mouse clinging to his shoulder tighter than usual while the sprint was happening. "Thanks, Brendan."

Dawn was the second to appear out of the doorway. She was moving quickly too, though she was somewhat distracted by her handbag. After all of the pointless searching she'd been doing through it lately, she wanted to make sure everything was accounted for. The male Trainer only watched as she walked by, neither saying a word to each other. At first, he found that odd.

Then May came bolting out of the room even faster than the other two had.

In her hands was a backpack, which she promptly shoved into Brendan's torso when she reached him. He somehow managed to pull the hand holding his coffee cup back to prevent a massive spillage. "Vamonos!" she repeated back to his face, already taking off to catch up to the other two. With her own bag hanging around her waist, she seemed more prepared than either of the others.

"What?! May—"

Before he got any further, she called back, "I already asked, they said it's fine!"

Brendan's eyes moved between May and his backpack three times in the course of two seconds. "And you didn't think to run this by me real quick?!"

Finally, the woman stopped running. That left her to turn on her heel and give Brendan a glare that was, from her, surprisingly impatient. "You didn't ask! Are you coming or not?"

He huffed a long, though not frustrated sigh. The coffee cup was raised to his lips...and once it got there, he nearly tipped it upside down and began a single session of chugging it. While May's eyes might have rolled once (or twice), Brendan didn't mind it much as he pulled the empty drink away from his face. The plastic cup dropped to the floor, and he started working his arms through the straps on his backpack. "Going to need that caffeine watching out for you people."

Through the next set of doors was the team's tried and true meeting room. This single room had been an important point at both the start and end of their journey. The long table and chairs that were still unorganized after last night were doomed to be ignored now. The attention instead went to the pair of hovering Pokémon not far from them. Brendan had mentioned it, but it hadn't clicked before now that there would be two of them. Granted that the red one seemed far more energetic than the blue one did, they both approached the group of four, albeit at vastly different speeds.

Latias bolted to Dawn, slowing down just enough at the end to hug her friend without knocking her to the ground. Latios, perhaps less affectionate, stayed hovering in a single spot near Dusk. For a short moment, his expression looked like it could be confused with a smile, but it didn't last long.

"Latios," Dusk stated. "You don't mind helping us out?"

"Again?" Dawn added with a smirk as Latias released her grip.

Latios looked away. His emotions were still unreadable. "Raa."

"Well, if I'm stuck with you people, I at least call dibs on Latios." Brendan stepped next to his chosen ride. Given how Latios treated any human just last night, it was somewhat unexpected when the dragon didn't react to it. "More leg room. No offense, Latias."

She chirped in response, although there was an unsure look on her face while she did it.

It wasn't much longer after that when the rest chose their seats as well. With the girls on Latias, the boys on Latios, and Wizard stuck firmly between the latter, they took off. At first, it was through a door on the far side of the room, well ignored up until now. That only led to an unkempt, cluttered hallway that more helpfully led to an exit. Latios prepared himself and smashed the door (and lock, Brendan noted out loud) head-first.

Up in the air above Petalburg City at barely 06:30 was the most beautiful thing the two Sinnoh Trainers had experienced on their vacation. All of the wrecked houses were far more completed than they had the right being, given how not long ago the siege on this city had happened. It was through the determination of the townsfolk and little else. In an apparently rare moment, it wasn't raining. In fact, the sun was shining on the town rather brightly. From so high up, they could see the dew on the grass reflect some of the light back at them.

That's why it was unfortunate when they got to look at it all for perhaps three seconds before their two speedy rides tore through the air.

It was a necessary evil, they knew. With avid news reporters on the earth just beneath them, they couldn't stay around long. The Magma's elevator was a blur as they flew past the lake, which was now guarded by police tape. Before long at all, they could see Littleroot Town in the distance. Then, it was nothing but a large body of water ahead of them.

Together, Team Missile was returning to Sinnoh.


	33. On the Road Again

It was 10:47, providing Umbreon's Pokétch was correct. They had found a very familiar island. It wasn't the Sinnoh region, although it wasn't far from it. The island—nameless, as far as they knew—was the location of the first steps both Dusk and Dawn had taken that wasn't inside Sinnoh. Unlike before, they stopped in the area this time for a positive reason. Meals had been skipped already today, and it was time to eat. That aside, the Eon dragons deserved rest. It had taken an hour or two longer to reach this place than when they had left it for Hoenn, but that was only because they felt no immediate rush this time.

Overall, hunger aside, it had been a pretty good trip so far.

As was natural, the group crowded around Brendan for their food cravings. It was almost dumb luck that his backpack contained enough edible food for the group, since he certainly hadn't had time to resupply at the Gym.

Not all things changed, however. Latios felt no need to participate in the group feeding. He found his own corner of the beach, still within sight, but hardly within social distance. On the opposite side of the coin, Latias had donned her human form nearly as soon as her feet could touch the sand. She gathered an arm's full of food, then ran all the way over to her antisocial friend.

That left only the main group, and no one was quite as okay with that as Wizard. The electric mouse had taken quite a liking to the more permanent status of the Hoenn crew. May would never stop offering him free hugs when he wanted them, and when he didn't, he could always beat Brendan in a foot race. In fact, he planned on exercising both of those extra features before they would leave the island. During brunch time, he happily nibbled on mixed berries from a can while sitting quite contently on May's lap.

Even after they'd finished eating, none of them thought to rise right away. The sun was still out, the temperature was nice, and there still didn't seem to be a reason to rush back to the mainland. They alternated between watching Latias and Latios interact and looking over the sparkling ocean.

"You know, May," Brendan started after a few moments of silence had passed over the group. "Your dad was probably a little upset about the turn of events. You know, abandoning him at the Gym with paparazzi swarming the place like bees."

May chuckled. "You're probably right. I should call him to make sure he's all right. C'mon, Wizard!"

The Pikachu didn't object when he was picked up and set on top of May's head. It still looked strange without a bandana, but as far as the mouse was concerned, her hair was pretty comfy, too. Equipped with her Wizard hat, May stood up and excused herself from the group.

"Suppose I have a call to make myself." The remaining Hoenn Trainer mirrored his girlfriend's actions, although without the Pikachu part. As he pulled out his Pokénav and walked away, he went on, "See how Dumb made out with Dumber..."

He wouldn't admit it, but Dusk felt a little strange without his foot-tall shoulder buddy attached to him. He had Dawn with him, though, and as he learned in Hoenn, he could have worse partners than that. "So, here's a thought. Where are we actually going in Sinnoh?"

It surprised him quite a bit when he got a response as immediately as he did. She didn't leave much room to argue with in her voice, either. "Sandgem Town."

Not that he had a reason to argue. And with the tone of voice she used, he wouldn't have tried anyway. The answer itself further steered him away from doing so. "Oh. You want to talk to the Professor?"

"Yeah." Her gaze fell down to the sand. Not that long ago, Latias had used fingers that looked just like Dawn's own to draw pictures in this sand. That was a better thought than the rest she had right now. "I don't want to imagine what's been going through your head, but what happened down there got me thinking about things, too. I don't want to talk to him for long. I just...need a minute, that's all."

Dusk's eyes, however, remained scanning the ocean that was in front of him. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm thinking anymore. But, if you really want to know, I don't think it's bothering me as much as you think it is."

That received his friend's attention. "What? Umbreon, how do you _not_ have questions?"

"I do have questions. But I've also had time to prepare myself for this." His voice was calm, betraying the conversation. That only appeared to intrigue Dawn more. "Ever since the desert, when I found out my mother had something to do with this, I had this...strange feeling—"

"A premonition?" the girl interrupted with a smirk.

That was a throwback to the end of their Galactic fight. How she had even remembered that conversation, he didn't know, but it put a smile on his face, too. "A premonition. I started wondering if this would end up leading me to my father. Of course, that didn't help me much at the time, but now that it's over, it doesn't feel like it left as big of an impact as it probably should have. I didn't see the sister thing coming, but it follows the same principle."

At that, the words he was saying began sounding familiar to Dawn. Which was strange, since she didn't think even he recognized them. She buried her face in her knees and recited, "'You're still the same person you've always been. Your family's always been part of Team Magma. Just...now you know it.'"

It was paraphrased, to be sure, but she got the point across. Dusk looked at Dawn, but didn't say anything. So she continued instead. "I remember when you said that to me. I think you said something about me handling it better than you would have, too. Guess at least that part isn't true, huh?"

The boy inhaled deeply, then released the air. In truth, it had taken him an extra second to figure out where that line was from, but Dawn didn't need to know that. He also decided to ignore her question in favor of returning to her other statement. "My family wasn't part of Team Magma, they _were_ Team Magma. And I suppose as long as I have this, I am, too."

Dawn peeled her eyes away from her legs. Despite the blurry vision she now had, she could see that he had somehow acquired the Magma pin that his sister had given him. He was observing it in his gloved hand. She wondered briefly whether he was going to put it on or throw it in the ocean, but he didn't do either. "Can I ask you something about that?"

He nodded. Even the black and red color scheme of the badge brilliantly reflected the sun's rays.

"What were you really thinking about when Key gave that to you?"

His attention didn't leave the insignia. There wasn't a reply for a moment, making her wonder if he had noticed her question at all. Then, he spoke the truth. No one could tell that better than Dawn. "I thought of what it meant. What we've been through. Who I am. Then I thought of something else. Dawn, if I had accepted, would you have joined with me?"

Time made a good attempt at freezing in Dawn's world. The question, posed to her right now, was heavy. What if, in the midst of all the fighting, he had turned to face her and ask that question in Magma's base? The closest friends and worst enemies that were standing all around her would have instantly swapped sides.

Her mind wanted to keep going, but a male voice interrupted it.

"I thought about that question, and even if it took a minute, I realized that you would never agree to it," Dusk said, answering the question for her. "Maybe I don't have the best morals. The fact that I considered joining them at all proves that. But May made me realize that I won't fight for something unless I'm passionate about it. No one's been closer to my side since I got my first Pokémon than you. Without you there, Magma wouldn't have anything worthwhile for me. Definitely not that uppity-voiced moron I was supposed to call 'Dad.'"

Dawn remained silent, which was good, since Dusk continued.

"I don't think anyone saw this, but before Roark started lining up a shot, he looked at me. Like he was asking for permission before possibly shooting Key. I didn't feel like responding at the time, so whatever I had on my face must have answered it for him."

"Roark...really did that?" she asked, somewhat weakly.

Umbreon finally stopped looking at the badge he had been given. He clamped it tight in his fist, then eventually chose to set it in his back pocket.

Silence fell over both of them. All that did was create more time for Dawn's mind to wander.

In the heat of the moment...what would she have really done?

-**OAM**-

"Three hours. Three hours, May! I just got done talking with them not even half an hour ago!"

As Brendan had pointed out, Professor Birch had rather unknowingly been left at a Pokémon Gym that wasn't his. Because of the families' close ties, however, Brendan, the stand-in Gym Leader, hadn't had a problem with it. There was quite a debacle the night before, and apparently news reporters from the corners of the country thought the Petalburg Gym could shed some light on it. That left Birch and a quiet Max alone in the place with them. While the phone had been ringing, May started getting seriously worried that she should have at least woken the two of them up before leaving.

However, her dad wasn't reacting in quite the way she predicted.

"It was amazing! I haven't had that kind of media exposure since I made that discovery about Ponyta and seashells!"

May paced up the beach a couple steps, perhaps to keep the rodent on top of her head amused. In response to her father's exclamation, she scratched her cheek. "Dad, even you admitted that was a blind guess that happened to lead to something..."

"Anyway, it was great. Some of them left when I began talking about my findings on the negative effects vitamins have on Pokémon, but I could see that the ones who stayed were fascinated by..."

She heard her father continue talking. His voice was there, in the device next to her ear, but she started losing focus on him. She wasn't put off by it—as the daughter of a Professor, she had gotten quite used to hearing long discussions about the most trivial of things. No, rather, it was because of a conversation happening a couple yards away from her. Her boyfriend was talking on his own phone, to who she could only assume was Gold. Eavesdropping on conversations wasn't her favorite hobby in the world, but their topic was something that she couldn't turn away from if she tried. She couldn't decide if only hearing one side of this conversation was a good thing or not.

"I never—No, I never _said_ we were going to have a shirtless mud fight, I said I was _interested_ in—What, you want to revisit this?"

Those two were known for joking around, of course. And for awhile, May thought that's all it was. Then she realized that Brendan was good at keeping a straight face while telling a joke, but he wasn't _that_ good. Whatever Gold was arguing his points with, Brendan was getting legitimately frustrated by them.

"Look. I'm going to Sinnoh for awhile, and as far as I know, it doesn't even rain there, so mud is out of the question. If we really have to settle this somehow—"

"May? Are you still there?"

The girl had to admit that was an annoying time to be yanked away from the conversation. Still, she forced her attention (and mind) back to her own conversation. "Err, yeah. Sorry, Dad. What were you saying?"

"One of those reporters from before wants to revisit the vitamin theories I was telling you about, so I'll have to let you go. By the way, I think your brother was a little upset that you left like that."

That was understandable. May knew she wasn't the best sister in that regard. She had the tendency in recent years to take off without much warning, no doubt with the rashness she obtained from being around Brendan for so long. "Tell him I'll call him tonight, okay? Bye, Dad!"

Once the Professor bid farewell, May ended the call and turned her focus back to Brendan, more parts of her wanting to hear the rest of the conversation than she was comfortable admitting. Sadly, that left her and her parts disappointed that she turned around in time to see Brendan also click a button on the Pokénav. His expression was one of mild frustration, as she assumed her own was. "Was that Gold?"

"Well, it wasn't Brawly...unfortunately." May's face lit up with laughter at those words. As Brendan put away his Pokénav, he decided to change topics. "How was your dad?"

"Let's just say I think he might have accidentally thrown a lot of people off our trail..."

Brendan moved forward to get within close range of May. She was expecting a kiss. It turned out he just wanted to pet Wizard, who chuckled happily at Brendan's touch. That was almost as good as a kiss, at least. "For now, I'm good with that."

They had only known each other for four years. That doesn't sound like much time, and it isn't, which made May feel like a quick learner. She knew what Brendan was about to say, and why he was saying it. She was right on both accounts. Not that she could ever get him to believe that. "So why now?" he asked.

"Why not now?" she was able to swiftly counter.

Maybe her psychic-like prediction skills weren't unmatched. Brendan responded to her just as quickly as she had to him. "No reason. Just curious."

This time, she put more thought into her answer. It was a question that deserved it. "We have more fun traveling with them than we've ever had by ourselves. All of us love being together, so why split up when there's no need to? For as many laps as we've done around Hoenn, I don't mind staying at a different country for awhile."

Brendan's face moved even closer to May's than it already had been. They didn't make physical contact, though May needed to resist the urge to kiss the grin that was on Brendan's face. "If you think this is the most fun, you don't remember our second year of traveling together."

May rolled her eyes. Despite the gesture, she didn't mind the close proximity. "Brendan, we're still not allowed in the Lilycove mall because of that..."

"Life isn't about the details, May!"

Again, May submitted to his will and laughed. She was rewarded with a peck on the cheek. Afterwards, Brendan took a few steps closer to the tide barely making its way onto the beach. He folded his arms and looked out. It was south, which was Sinnoh's direction. The other two had shared over lunch that the region was close, but it was still far enough away that they couldn't see it from here. That meant more time riding on a legendary Pokémon, so they were okay with that.

"So...You okay after last night?"

The question was serious. After a joke by Brendan, it was unusual for him to move to that. Still, it was an inevitable thing to be asked. "I guess so. It was bad, but no one said it was going to be good. And many of us made it out safely...Considering everything, it's hard to ask for more than that. What about you?"

Brendan sighed. A moment later, he looked off to the side where the other two were. May wondered why there was such a pause between those two things. "Guess I'm kinda glad things worked out like they did. After all that, it's hard to just hope that Dusk will be all right, you know?"

He wouldn't call Umbreon anything but "Umbry" when they were around each other, so the use of his actual nickname surprised May a little. She decided it wasn't worth a mention, though. "But what about you?"

His attention returned to the water in front of him. "I got to battle with Yin and Yang over there, and it was pretty awesome. I'd say I made out all right."

Wizard changed positions on top of May's head. Rather than clinging to her belly-down, he sat up. Safe enough, he figured, as long as she refrained from sudden movements. From there, he used one of his tiny arms in an attempt to scratch an area underneath his green bandana. It wasn't that he didn't want to be around these two, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel out of place in this conversation.

To help him out a little bit, May lifted him from his seat and held him to her waist in a one-sided hug. It was a good thought, the Pikachu believed, but her focus didn't seem to be on him at all. "But other things happened too, Brendan."

"What do you want me to say?" he countered, most signs of frustration kept away from his voice. "We were in a building that smelled like saltwater for half the night, then we were on the business end of a Groudon. A small group of people not even at the drinking age and a large chunk of their worst enemies took down an insane syndicate. Then our two friends brushed a little closer to death than they should have. Again. If it's what you want me to admit, then yeah, I'm a little shook up, May. But I don't expect anyone not to be."

After all that was finished, May couldn't stop herself from grinning. Not at all of it, of course. She'd feel terrible for that. It was a specific part. "Not being of the drinking age didn't stop us in Lilycove..."

Her boyfriend turned around. On his face was a smirk that matched May's. He closed the distance between the two while he was at it. "For two and a half solid hours, we didn't even let law enforcement stop us in Lilycove."

May giggled. Come to think of it, that year had been a pretty notable one.

-**OAM**-

It was nighttime. And for one of the teammates more so than the others, it was an uncomfortable one. The day had been pretty well wasted on their private island. Wizard had beaten Brendan in both, the race around the entire island along with the rematch afterwards. Once they had finished with that, the group, joined by Latias and a reluctant Latios, sat on the beach. They talked for hours, and for once, they were about things far less serious than normal. It was only when the sun was starting to set that they realized they still had a ways to fly. Boarding their respective and well-rested dragons, they took off for the home stretch of their trip.

When they began flying over thickets of trees instead of endless water, they knew they weren't far from their destination. Everything considered, it was a bittersweet experience.

All the humans were on the ground. Brendan nor May recognized the place, although that wasn't the problem Dawn had. Before she could worry about why they were here, though, there was something else she had to go through first that was potentially even more difficult.

In the girl's arms was a red- and white-colored dragon Pokémon. With the sun being long gone, the colors weren't easy to notice, but Dawn didn't need a light source to know what one of her best friends looked like. Come to think of it, this hug had probably lasted a minute already and counting. Dawn, for one, couldn't have cared less. The longer she had short claws digging into her back, the longer it would be until her friend flew away. "Latias, I'm going to miss you so much."

She cooed quietly. The two of them were a short distance from their friends, something purposely done.

They were standing, of all places, in front of Sandgem's Laboratory. Dawn didn't let that sour the moment. "Just promise me you'll take care of yourself and Latios, okay?"

Latias had been there since the very start of this Magma saga; this time, she'd even been around before May and Brendan were. Since then, she hadn't left Dawn's side. The only exception was when Latias got cornered and was forced to work with Magma. It could never be held against her, though, as the rest of the team would have never found Magma's undersea base had it not been for that event. In many ways, she was the start and end of that whole story. That said, friends as they were, Dawn knew well enough that walking alongside them on a goalless Trainer journey was no place for a legendary Pokémon. Most especially Latias, who had five years of catching up to do with her closest friend, Latios. She would have a fantastic life. It just so happened that it was time for Dawn to become nothing but a fond memory to the young girl.

She would always be even more than a fond memory to Dawn.

The blue-haired girl, so used to leaning away from Latias' hug and seeing a reflection of herself, became teary as she lightly pushed the hovering dragon away from her. "And don't you dare think you aren't allowed to hang out with us anymore! Anytime at all that you want to see us, we'll be waiting. Just look for Brendan's hair. It's pretty noticeable."

Despite Dawn's movement, Latias dove forward for one last hug. Her reward for doing so was one last kiss on the cheek. Just like the very first time it had happened, it brought a blush to her face. Dawn was too close to notice it.

"Thank you, Latias..." She paused here for a moment. What did she mean the most to Dawn for? She had flown the team around, been a key asset in the entire Magma war, and there was also...that other thing. That thing where she reminded Dawn of a sister she had unfairly lost. She finished her sentence. She had finally figured out how to. "...for everything."

Latias nuzzled her face against Dawn's. Though it got her to laugh, it also caused those two threatening tears to fall down.

Then, she pulled away on her own.

The Eon Pokémon nodded to her friend. She had been in a human form for so long, it was somewhat strange to be able to make noise again. She didn't need to, though. A nod said everything she needed to.

Dawn blinked back any other tears that wanted to break free. Together, both of them returned to the rest of their friends.

The rest of them knew it was almost time to say farewell when they saw the two approach. Once there, Latias gave a hug to each of the other humans (along with a special extended one for Wizard). It was silently assumed that it was for, if nothing else, their kindness toward her during the times she borrowed Dawn's actual body. Latios was hardly as affectionate, but Dusk believed something needed to be said to him, anyway.

"We owe a lot to you, Latios." Dusk realized that until yesterday's evening, he never would have spoken those words to the one impersonating him. People and Pokémon switching alliances at the drop of a hat, however, was something he was beginning to get used to. "Take care of yourself."

The taller of the dragons turned its gaze in a different direction. He was pretty much expressionless, but Dusk hadn't expected anything else. "Raa."

And that was it. With a chirp responded with a caw, the two rare Pokémon flew into the sky. With nothing to illuminate them, they didn't stay in sight long. That, however, didn't seem to discourage Team Missile from shouting their goodbyes into the air. Together, they stood there, staring at the last spot they had seen them.

"She was my friend," Dawn confessed, doing well but not perfect at keeping herself calm. "I'm really going to miss her."

Before long once she had said that, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around Dawn's neck from the back in a light, one-sided hug. The voice that followed, close to her own head now, was May's. "You don't need to. Because of what you did for her, every time you hear the sound an ocarina makes, you'll know that she's thinking of you."

"Maybe you're right..." Dawn answered back.

After only a second of silence, Dawn freed herself from May's grip and stepped forward to address the group. She pointed a thumb behind her, though there wasn't much life in it. "Guys, um, if you didn't know, this is sorta Professor Rowan's place." She tried to ignore the glance that the Hoenn Trainers gave one another. "If it's all right, I was hoping that just me and Dusk can go in there. Just for a minute."

"Of course, Dawn," May responded. She tried to keep her voice casual, although she was fully aware of the extent of this house visit. "We'll wait out here."

Dusk was partially surprised that he had been invited himself. He decided it best not to say anything, though. As he turned to leave with his girlfriend, Wizard leapt from his shoulder and landed on Brendan's. Whether it was to give them privacy or to prevent another boring trip to that professor's place, Wizard preferred to keep to himself.

With only the three of them around, Brendan turned his attention towards May. "'The sound an ocarina makes'? Did you have that one saved or something?"

-**OAM**-

To hear the bell above the door chime. To be exposed to the air in the building. To even _see_ this building again. It gave Dawn a feeling she couldn't describe. She had been here for two weeks, give or take, before she had first met Dusk. She would never be able to honestly say she was happy to be back here. But...she didn't hate it, either.

"Back already, Samson? How did the search go?"

That voice couldn't be mistaken. It still haunted some of Dawn's dreams. Professor Rowan was in the far corner of his lab, back turned to the door. On his left was what appeared to be Pokémon food, and on his right was a clipboard with notes stuck to it. Every few seconds, he would swap his attention between the two things. The vast majority of lights in the building were off, save for a small lamp near the professor himself.

The layout wasn't complicated, though. Besides, Dawn knew it anyway. She made a small gesture with her hand at her boyfriend, silently asking him to stay at the doorway. He obeyed. With that, she began a long, quiet walk deeper into the building.

Dawn stopped a few feet short of the professor. She didn't want to crowd him—there was a part of her that didn't want to be near him at all—but thought she should approach close enough so he knew that he wasn't talking to his aide. "I'm not sure," she answered him with. Her tone was quite calm, which totally betrayed her heart rate. "Sorry."

Rowan's surgical movements stopped cold. He took a moment to compose himself, then turned away from his table and faced the girl in front of him. "Dawn. I didn't expect you back so soon. Or ever, really."

She had braved facing the very top of Team Magma, then looked their Groudon straight in the eye and took it on. Standing in the spot she was now, she wondered where that courage went. Right now, she couldn't even look her father in the face. Her gaze was on an out-of-place patch of dirt on the otherwise clean floor. "Things have changed...a lot. There's something I want to tell you that I didn't last time."

Rowan put his hands behind his back. The pose was disturbingly close to Maxie's. The two of them also shared that feeling of a cold, calculating personality. "Many things, I suppose, went unsaid for the both of us. Given the circumstances, it's understandable. What is it?"

The girl wondered just what the professor was bracing himself to hear. She expected to surprise him. For this, she forced her eyes up his towering figure until they landed on his face. "I wanted to thank you."

She assumed she was now looking at his surprised face. It was hard to tell. He kept that same, scary look on him.

"You were the one that took me in at Snowpeak City. And you led me to Dusk. Despite..." She closed her eyes. "some of my feelings, I've recently realized how much you've helped me."

"'Some of your feelings,'" he echoed. "What are some of your feelings?"

She hadn't opened them yet. "I'm thankful you took me in. I won't apologize if I'm upset that you did it fourteen years too late."

"I see." He sat on those words for a few moments. Being with Rowan, however, made a few moments seem like an hour or two. "I don't regret my decision. You were an excellent assistant, setting aside that incident with the Bellsprout."

The sentence made her grin. She turned her head back halfway, in the hopes of finding Umbreon not paying enough attention to have heard that. He was too shrouded in darkness to see either way, though.

"Is that all?"

That...indifference. That cold indifference. Dawn thought of May and just how lucky she was. Professor Birch was lively. Strange, sometimes, but for the few times she had gotten to talk with him, he was fun to be around. Rowan did not share many of those qualities at all. He was a robot. Good at what he does, but terrible at everything else. Like being a human being.

What would she even be like had Rowan been in her life, Dawn wondered? All she knew right now was that indifference was rubbing off on her. She reached into her handbag, shuffled around inside of it, and finally pulled out a pink object. It was the first thing her father had given her in her life. The Pokédex.

She held it up with a questioning look on her face. Apparently, that's how the guy in front of her communicated. He gave a single, pronounced nod to her unasked question. In response to it, she gave the tiniest of smiles, a quick nod of her own, then set the object back into her bag. Frankly, she had done what she had come here for. She turned around and began to listen as her boots collided with the floor below them. They were taking her closer to the exit.

She only heard that sound three times, though. She was interrupted after that.

"If you're finished, then there's something I'd like to say to you as well. However, I believe Umbreon should hear this as well."

The boy, standing in the dark next to the laboratory's door, heard his name be mentioned. He wasn't even completely sure on how Rowan knew he was in here. To the best of his knowledge, he was completely covered in shadows. Regardless, he began moving forward.

It was only when Dusk was by her side that Dawn felt like turning back around. When she did, she found the professor had scarcely moved.

"Unfortunately for the both of you," he began, "news travels fast. I've heard about what happened to Team Magma in Hoenn. No matter what some colleagues of mine might say, I'm not an idiot. I feel safe in assuming that you two had more than something to do with it."

The Trainers glanced at one another. Rowan didn't give them much time to answer him, though.

He gave his back to them, choosing instead to face his work. For some reason, it didn't feel like he was very focused on it. "I'd like to share something with both of you. It relates to something I shared the last time the three of us were in these same spots."

The "something" he was talking about had shaken Dawn's world to the core. Her world's core had been shaken _at least_ three times in the past few weeks, and she honestly wanted a break. Something inside of her didn't let her leave the building.

"I'm sure you'll recall when I said that all of us have known one another for quite some time. Sadly, that is not the end of the story."

Rowan now turned around to face Dusk and Dawn. He had caught them in a second look at one another. "This is a dark secret of mine, I must admit. Ruin my reputation with it, if you wish. In light of recent events, I feel you both should know." He paused to clear his throat. "Umbreon, I did not lie when I told you that I worked with your father."

Dawn turned her head to face her boyfriend. Umbreon, somewhat expecting Rowan to continue on, said nothing until he realized it was his turn. "Wait...what?"

The old man took a long breath, then released it. As is always the case, it was hard to tell if he was disappointed in the lack of understanding, or if he simply did that for his own reasons. "When Maxie needed to escape from Hoenn for heaven really knows what reasons, he would come to Sinnoh. Specifically to Twinleaf Town. During those times, and only under very special circumstances, I would assist him."

"'Special circumstances'?" Dusk mimicked. "What's that—"

He was interrupted by an unexpected source. It was the girl standing next to him. On her face was a leer, one nearly as menacing as Rowan's usual expression. "It means off the books."

Rowan tightened his frown, though he loosened it in a moment. He probably hadn't been expecting Dawn to react like that. "That's more or less correct." For the second time, he returned to his table. It was odd, then, that afterwards he looked up at the ceiling. Did Professor Rowan just lose his nerve? "The last time he came to Sinnoh was not long after you were born, Umbreon. Your mother had arranged a picnic for both of you to meet each other. You two got along very well. Unfortunately, the adults that attended...didn't."

There wasn't a sound for a few moments. "So, what does that mean?" Dusk eventually pushed.

"To put it simply, everything fell apart. Eliza found out how closely Umbreon was related to Team Magma. She didn't want you near him, Dawn."

Dawn used her arms to give herself a compact hug. "My mom...?"

Rowan's head dropped low on his neck. She never thought she could imagine the feeling, but Dawn was almost starting to feel bad for her father. She could tell this wasn't an easy memory for him to relive. "We hadn't even left the picnic before she found out about my involvement, as well. Since that day, she refused to let me be anywhere close to you. I do believe that wasn't far from when your mother took you away from Team Magma, Umbreon."

Neither Trainer could think of anything to say.

"I'm sorry that I can't answer all of your questions, Dawn. But perhaps I cleared up some of them." Finally, the man was able to turn back around to face the kids. His expression, to no one's shock, had failed to change at all. "And Umbreon, I'd like to thank you. I cut off all connections to Team Magma after that day, but by that time, they had already ruined my chance of being a part of my daughter's life. With Team Magma officially becoming history, at long last I can close that chapter of my life."

Dusk's arms folded themselves. "Trust me, it was my pleasure."

"You..."

Dawn's voice was meek. Umbreon had to look over at her. If he hadn't known any better, it was that same reserved tone of voice that Latias had used.

"You...wanted to be a part of my life?"

"Of course I did," he replied. "I don't expect that's enough for your forgiveness."

"No. Right now, it isn't." She lifted her feeling arm up and used a finger to catch a tear before it fell. Then she sniffled. Her mouth was turned up into a smile. "But, someday it might be."

Rowan hummed. His moustache, however, lifted into a small grin. It was the very first emotion the Trainers had seen on him all night. "Mmm. Very well, then. It's getting late. Both of you should find somewhere to rest. I trust your past few days have left you tired."

Umbreon was the last one in the room to cave into a grin. Without a word, he set his arm across Dawn's shoulders and began to lead her out of the room. They had left this building the last time in a somewhat similar manner. The difference being that while Dawn had a tear or two stained on her cheeks right now, last time, there certainly wasn't a smile across her lips. Dusk as well walked away feeling far more satisfied than when he had entered. Sandgem Town turned out to not be a bad landing spot after all.

"Do me one favor," Rowan called after them. "If you see Samson, tell him that he's late now, won't you?"

Their smiles grew wider as they opened the door and exited from the laboratory.

The Hoenn Trainers quickly shifted their attention to the opened door. Wizard still seemed content with his perch on Brendan. May, always quick to locate tears, noticed something was off as the two approached them. "Is everything all right?"

"Well...no," Dawn replied truthfully, sniffling. "But we'll be fine."

"So what's next?" asked Brendan, his hand reaching up to scratch Wizard beneath his chin. "We got about another month and a half until the contest."

"Contest?" echoed Dusk.

"The contest in Hoenn that I mentioned in that note!" May answered. "I'm thinking it's fine if we miss it this year, though." She gave a smile aimed at both of her Sinnoh friends. "Maybe we'll be too busy."

"Well, we missed half of this region while fighting Galactic," Umbreon stated. "Guess we could see what else is out there."

Dawn equipped a weak smile. "My vote goes to getting some sleep first."

"Fine by me. Race to the Pokémon Center!"

Being the one to announce the challenge, Brendan had given himself quite a head start. Wizard wasn't going to let him get away with that; he hopped off the shoulder for the sole purpose of defeating the cheating Trainer at his own game. The rest of the team soon followed.

Raised in a boring town like Twinleaf, Umbreon never thought his life would become so hectic so quickly. He knew he had changed very much from when he was handed his first Pokémon. He saw the world differently now. A good thing, probably. It was a great thing, however, that he had a team now, one of friends. And, in truth, none of it would have happened if not for the day he had met Dawn.

That's why it was so strangely fitting that, on his third step into the race, he tripped over a Bidoof that had been sleeping on the dirt road.

-**FIN**-


End file.
